Question

Fifteen students participating in a race .in how many different ways can the first three prizes be won

Answer 1

some ways could be
1) one person stood first, one personstood second and one person stood third.
2) may be there is a tie b/w two persons for the first position, one person was second and other was third
3) may be there is a tie b/w two persons for the second position, one person stood first and one third
4) may be there is a tie b/w two persons for the third position, one stood first and one third

this answer is according to me
there could be many such possibilities
hope this helps