Question

The AL East baseball division has 5 teams. How many different ways can they finish 1st through 5th?

Answer 1

Answer:

  120

Step-by-step explanation:

Any of the 5 teams can finish first. For each of those, any of the 4 remaining teams can finish 2nd. For any of those 5·4 = 20 permutations, any of the 3 remaining teams can finish 3rd. The counting continues in like fashion, so the total number of possible finish sequences is ...

  5·4·3·2·1 = 5! = 120 . . . . ways they can finish