How many ways can Santa arrange his reindeer?

This is a classic permutation problem! Here's how to solve it:

* Santa has 9 reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph.

* He wants to arrange them in a line.

The Calculation

* For the first spot in line, Santa has 9 choices (any of his reindeer).

* For the second spot, he has 8 reindeer left, so 8 choices.

* For the third spot, he has 7 choices, and so on.

This means the total number of arrangements is: 9 * 8 * 7 * 6 * 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * 1

This is called a factorial and is written as 9!

The Answer

9! = 362,880

There are 362,880 different ways Santa can arrange his reindeer in a line.