Bunuel
Sixteen children are trying to decide which two children will win the president and vice-president positions in the class. Each child can and will cast a vote for anyone in the class. If each child in the class is eligible for a position, how many different outcomes are there of the election?
A. 15
B. 30
C. 60
D. 120
E. 240
Take the task of selecting a president and vice-president, and break it into
stages.
Stage 1: Select someone to be president.
There are 16 children to choose from, so we can complete stage 1 in
16 ways
Stage 2: Select someone to be vice-president.
Once a child has been selected to be president, that child cannot also be vice-president.
So, there are 15 remaining children to choose from, so we can complete stage 2 in
15 ways
By the Fundamental Counting Principle (FCP), we can complete the 2 stages (and thus select a president and vice-president) in
(16)(15) ways (240 ways)
Answer: E
Note: the FCP can be used to solve the
MAJORITY of counting questions on the GMAT so be sure to learn it.
RELATED VIDEOS FROM OUR COURSE