Answers:
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Explanation for part (a)
Consider four slots labeled A,B,C,D.
We have
- 18 choices for slot A
- 17 choices for slot B
- 16 choices for slot C
- 15 choices for slot D
We started at 18 and counted down until we filled the four slots. The countdown is because we cannot repeat a color. Multiply out those values to get the answer: 18*17*16*15 = 73440
You can use the nPr permutation formula as an alternative method
![_nP_r = \frac{n!}{(n-r)!}](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=_nP_r%20%3D%20%5Cfrac%7Bn%21%7D%7B%28n-r%29%21%7D)
in this case n = 18 and r = 4. The exclamation marks indicate factorial.
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Explanation for part (b)
Let's say we had color labels A,B,C,... all the way up to R which is the 18th letter in the English alphabet. From those 18 letters, we can only pick four. Let's say we pick D,E,F,G.
Focusing solely on the set {D,E,F,G}, we only have one set and the order doesn't matter. So {D,E,F,G} is the same as {D,E,G,F}.
There are 4*3*2*1 = 24 ways to arrange those four items meaning that we'll need to divide the result of part (a) by 24 to get the result of part (b)
73440/24 = 3060
You could use the nCr combination formula to get the same result
![_nC_r = \frac{n!}{r!(n-r)!}](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=_nC_r%20%3D%20%5Cfrac%7Bn%21%7D%7Br%21%28n-r%29%21%7D)
where n = 18 and r = 4 are the same from last time.
The connection between nPr and nCr is this
![_nC_r = \frac{_nP_r}{r!}](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=_nC_r%20%3D%20%5Cfrac%7B_nP_r%7D%7Br%21%7D)
which can be rearranged into
![_nP_r = r!*\left( _nC_r \right)](https://tex.z-dn.net/?f=_nP_r%20%3D%20r%21%2A%5Cleft%28%20_nC_r%20%5Cright%29)
these formulas are handy to help us go back and forth between nCr or nPr.