Eight sprinters from different universities are in the final match. In how many ways can the sprinters receive a gold, a silver, or a bronze medal?
To find the number of ways the sprinters can receive a gold, silver, or bronze medal, we can use the concept of permutations.
Since there are 8 sprinters, the first-place finisher can be any one of the 8 sprinters. After selecting the gold medalist, there are 7 remaining sprinters. One of these 7 will take the silver medal. Finally, after choosing the silver medalist, there are 6 sprinters remaining for the bronze medal.
Therefore, the number of ways the sprinters can receive a gold, silver, or bronze medal is given by the product of the number of choices at each step:
8 (for gold) * 7 (for silver) * 6 (for bronze) = 336.
So, there are 336 ways the sprinters can receive a gold, silver, or bronze medal.