How many ways can 4 different colored balls be arranged in a line?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
How many ways can 4 different colored balls be arranged in a line?
16
24
32
48
The number of arrangements is 4! = 24.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
1 item
Q
Q: How many ways can 4 different colored balls be arranged in a line?
Solution: The number of arrangements is 4! = 24.
Steps: 9
Step 1: Understand that we have 4 different colored balls. Let's call them Ball A, Ball B, Ball C, and Ball D.
Step 2: We want to find out how many different ways we can arrange these 4 balls in a line.
Step 3: The first position in the line can be filled by any of the 4 balls. So, there are 4 choices for the first position.
Step 4: After placing one ball in the first position, we have 3 balls left. So, there are 3 choices for the second position.
Step 5: After placing balls in the first two positions, we have 2 balls left. So, there are 2 choices for the third position.
Step 6: Finally, there is only 1 ball left for the last position. So, there is 1 choice for the fourth position.
Step 7: To find the total number of arrangements, we multiply the number of choices for each position: 4 (for the first) × 3 (for the second) × 2 (for the third) × 1 (for the fourth).
Step 8: This multiplication gives us 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 24.
Step 9: The result, 24, is the total number of ways to arrange the 4 different colored balls in a line.