Answer:
1320 ways
Step-by-step explanation:
Here we have a situation where 3 ribbons will be awarded to 3 of the 12 contestants. We can use the permutation formula, because the order of awarding the ribbons matters.
The permutation formula is:
[tex]_{n}P_{k}=\dfrac{n!}{(n-k)!}[/tex]
n = 12
k = 3
Now that we have our variables, let's plug them into the formula.
[tex]_{12}P_{3}=\dfrac{12!}{(12-3)!}[/tex]
[tex]_{12}P_{3}=\dfrac{12!}{9!}[/tex]
[tex]_{12}P_{3}=1320[/tex]
So there are 1320 different ways that the contestants will be awarded.
