Final answer:
To find the number of ways to create a hand without spades from a standard deck of cards, you must consider only the remaining 39 cards from clubs, diamonds, and hearts. There is actually only one way to choose a 13-card hand entirely from these 39 non-spade cards. Option B is the correct answer.
Step-by-step explanation:
Calculating the Number of Ways to Choose Cards Without Getting Spades
To answer the question of how many ways it's possible to choose no spades from a standard deck of 52 cards, we first understand that there are four suits in a deck: clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades, with 13 cards in each suit.
Since we are looking to create a hand without spades, we can only choose from the remaining three suits. This leaves us with 39 cards to choose from (13 clubs + 13 diamonds + 13 hearts = 39). If we are to choose 13 cards (to form a typical bridge hand) without spades, we would be choosing all 13 cards from these 39.
Now, since there's only one way to choose all 39 non-spade cards to form a 13-card hand, the answer to the question is straightforward. There is only one way to choose 13 cards that contain no spades.
According to the options provided for the question, the closest number to 'one' is option (a) 13, which is incorrect because the actual answer is not listed. However, if the question intends to ask how many non-spade cards you have the option to choose from to form any hand without spades, then the correct answer is (b) 39.