SOLUTION: How many arrangements of the letters in the word olive can you make if each arrangement must use three letters?

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Question 12361: How many arrangements of the letters in the word olive can you make if each arrangement must use three letters?
Answer by rapaljer(4671) About Me  (Show Source):
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The key word is "arrangement" which means that the order is significant. This makes the problem a PERMUTATION, a permutation of the 5 letters in the word OLIVE taken 3 at a time. There are a lot of notations that can be used here, one of which, the easiest to type here, is P(5,3). It means to start with the first number 5, and start counting down. You must have THREE numbers (that is the second number), in the product:

P(5,3) = 5*4*3 = 60 different arrangements.

R^2 at SCC