⇒ The formula for combinations:
nCr = n! / r!(n-r)! where n is the total number of items, r is the number of items to be selected, and ! denotes the factorial function
⇒ n = 20 (the total number of bidding companies) r = 5 (the number of companies to be selected)
⇒ combinations of five companies that can be selected from the 20 bidding companies is: 20C5 = 20! / 5!(20-5)! = (20 x 19 x 18 x 17 x 16) / (5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1) = 15,504
* ⇒ Hence there are 15,504 different combinations of five companies that can be selected from the 20 bidding companies.
Option B