Math question geo

Question

Ina dog show there will be a gold and silver medal awarded. There are 5 finalists. In how many different ways can the 2 medals be awarded?

Answer 1

The simple answer is 20. If one of each medal is awarded, there are 5 dogs who can win the gold. When the gold medal is awarded, assuming the same dog cannot win both, there are 4 dogs eligible for the silver.

In probabality, this is a permutation, as the order of first and second is important. The formula for a permutation is : nPr = n!/(n-r)! where n=number of dogs and r=number of medals.