In how many ways can 4 different books be arranged on a shelf?
Practice Questions
Q1
In how many ways can 4 different books be arranged on a shelf?
16
24
64
12
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
In how many ways can 4 different books be arranged on a shelf?
Step 1: Understand that we have 4 different books to arrange.
Step 2: Realize that the order in which we arrange the books matters.
Step 3: Use the factorial notation to calculate the number of arrangements. The factorial of a number n (written as n!) is the product of all positive integers up to n.
Step 4: For 4 books, we calculate 4! which means 4 x 3 x 2 x 1.
Step 5: Perform the multiplication: 4 x 3 = 12, then 12 x 2 = 24, and finally 24 x 1 = 24.
Step 6: Conclude that there are 24 different ways to arrange the 4 books on the shelf.
