matthewsmith_89 wrote:
Hi,
Can
Bunuel or
VeritasPrepKarishma help me.
Can you please explain to me how comes you use Permutations in this case?
I know we use Permutations when the order matters. While, we use Combinations when the order doesn't matter.
Can you elaborate how the order matters in this case.
Question: how many possible combinations of meals could they order?
which means "In how many ways can they order?"
There are 4 people: say A, B, C, D
There are 6 meals: say M1, M2, ... M6
You have 6 meals and you have to choose 4 of them - this is a combination problem
Now, you have to distribute the 4 meals among the 4 people - this is permutation
A - M1, B - M2, C - M3, D - M4
is different from
A - M4, B - M2, C - M3, D - M1
A ordering M1 is different from A ordering M4 and hence the 4 meals need to be arranged among A, B, C and D.
Had the question been: A person arrives at a restaurant to pick 4 meals to take home. He notices that the menu has 6 meal options. In how many ways can he pick the 4 meals?
Here, this is just selection - a combination problem.
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53% (00:36) correct 
