EXAMPLE 1.5.3

There are 8 greyhounds in a race. How many different orders of finish (first place through eighth place) are possible?

SOLUTION

We are being asked to find the number of ways to arrange 8 things. The number of arrangements of 8 objects is 8!

8! = 40,320.

If you are trying to predict the exact result of this race, from first place through eighth place, there are more than 40,000 possible outcomes.