Multiplication Principle; Finite Math

Question

"In picking out two students to come to the board to demonstrate a homework problem, the instructor finds that there are 1482 different ways to select the two students from the class. How many students are in the class?" It's from The Multiplication Principle chapter

Answer 1

n students in class; choosing two of them can be done in nC2 ways.

 

nC2  = n! / [2! (n-2)] = 1482

 

Simplifying: n(n-1) = 2964.  This becomes a quadratic equation; you can solve it.