Twelve contestants at the county fair have entered their cakes to be judged in the cake decorating competition. A purple ribbon, blue ribbon, red ribbon, and white ribbon will be given to the first, second, third, and fourth place competitors, respectively. How many different ways are there to award the four ribbons to the contestants?  Pick.
A) 8!/(4!*4!)	B) 12!/(8!*4!)	C) 8!/4!	D) 12!/8!	E) 12!/4!
Number of ways you can select 4 people out of 12 = 12C4   Once you select the 4 people, you have the following arrangement, PBRW (PBRW being the 4 prizes) but the same group of people can also be chosen against BRWP etc. Thus you get 4! ways of arranging 4 prizes.   Thus total possible ways = 12C4*4! = 12!/8!. 12!/8! is the correct answer.
<result>D</result>
Twelve contestants at the county fair have entered their cakes to be judged in the cake decorating competition. A purple ribbon, blue ribbon, red ribbon, and white ribbon will be given to the first, second, third, and fourth place competitors, respectively. How many different ways are there to award the four ribbons to the contestants?