In how many ways can a member of a hiring committee select 6 of 17 job applicants for further consideration?

Question

In how many ways can a member of a hiring committee select 6 of 17 job applicants for further consideration? ​

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This is a combination problem, where the order of the selected applicants doesn't matter. Therefore, we can use the combination formula: 
nCk = n! / (k!(n-k)!)
Plugging in the values, we get: 
17C6 = 17! / (6!(17-6)!) = 17! / (6!11!) = 24,887,149 
Therefore, there are 24,887,149 ways to select 6 job applicants from a pool of 17 for further consideration.

In How Many Ways Can a Member of a Hiring