In how many different ways can the coach select 2 players to be the captains for tonight's game with a basketball team that has 12 players?

Answer 1

The coach can select 2 players from a team of 12 using combinations, as the order of selection does not matter. The number of ways to choose 2 players from 12 is calculated using the combination formula ( C(n, r) = \frac{n!}{r!(n-r)!} ). For this scenario, it is ( C(12, 2) = \frac{12!}{2!(12-2)!} = \frac{12 \times 11}{2 \times 1} = 66 ). Therefore, there are 66 different ways to select 2 players to be the captains.