Question

A lab process consists of five steps that can be performed in any sequence. The complexity of each task differs. The lab director decides to conduct a study to determine the order of performing the tasks that will result in the lowest number of errors. If he wants to consider all possible orderings of the tasks, how many sequences will be studied

Answer 1

To calculate the number of possible sequences that can be studied when considering all possible orderings of the tasks, we can use the concept of permutations.

Since there are five tasks to be performed and each task can be arranged in any order, the number of possible sequences can be calculated using the formula for permutations of n objects, which is n!

In this case, n = 5, so the number of possible sequences is:

5! = 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 120

Therefore, 120 sequences will be studied when considering all possible task orderings.