SOLUTION: what is the formula on how to answer this word problem? A computer with an old processor locks up if more than 4 applications are running simultaneously. If the owner has 20 applic

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Question 262664: what is the formula on how to answer this word problem? A computer with an old processor locks up if more than 4 applications are running simultaneously. If the owner has 20 applications stored in his program file, how many different sets of 4 can he run, so his computer does not lock up? a formula would be great, thank you.
Answer by jim_thompson5910(35256) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Hint: Use the combination formula (since order doesn't matter)


In this case, n=20 (he has 20 to choose from) and r=4 (but in the end he can only pick 4) which means that


Note: computing 20! isn't practical. Try to see if you can think of a way to simplify it first before plugging it into your calculator.