00:03
All right, so based on the wording of this problem, i see two possible interpretations, and they would lead to different answers.
00:10
And without access to the answer key or to the brain of the person who wrote the problem, the best i can do is show you my two different interpretations.
00:19
So it says in how many different ways can a mercedes, a cadillac, and a ford be awarded to three people chosen from the nine finalists in a contest.
00:27
So let's say they haven't chosen the three people yet.
00:29
Then there are nine choices for who gets the mercedes, there are eight choices for who gets the cadillac, and there are seven choices for who gets the ford.
00:38
And when we multiply those numbers together, we get 504.
00:43
On the other hand, suppose you interpret the problem this way...