A literary magazine editor must choose 4 short stories for this month's issue from 17 submissions. in how many ways can the editor choose this month's stories?

The item above is answered through the concept of Combination since the arrangement of how the magazines are to be chosen from the total number of magazines given is not a factor. The mathematical expression for this combination is,

n = 17C4

or "combination of 17 taken 4.

n = (17!) / (4!) (17-4) !

n = 2380

Answer: 2,380