At a competition with 4 runners, 4 medals are awarded for first place through fourth place. Each medal is different. How many ways are there to award the medals? Does this situation involve a permutation or a combination?
There are 4 different medals to be awarded, so for the first place, there are 4 options. For the second place, there are 3 options remaining, for the third place there are 2 options remaining, and for the fourth place, there is 1 option remaining. Therefore, the total number of ways to award the medals is 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 24.
This situation involves a permutation, as it is important to consider the order in which the runners are awarded the medals.