Question

You are asked to make a list of possible 5-character passwords using the first 7 letters of the alphabet. How many distinct passwords can you make? Indicate whether this is a combination or permutation.

Answer 1

Using the permutation formula, as the order is important, it is found that 2520 distinct passwords can be made.

The order is important as abcde is a different password than edcba, hence the permutation formula is used.

What is the permutation formula?

The number of possible permutations of x elements from a set of n elements is given by:

$P_{(n,x)} = \frac{n!}{(n-x)!}$

In this problem, 5 letters are chosen from a set of 7, hence:

$P_{7,5} = \frac{7!}{(7-5)!} = 2520$

2520 distinct passwords can be made.

More can be learned about the permutation formula at brainly.com/question/25925367