To find the number of ways to seat 9 people in 3 chairs, we use the permutation formula: \(P(n, r) = \frac{n!}{(n - r)!}\) where \( n \) is the total number of people and \( r \) is the number of chairs. Here, \( n = 9 \) and \( r = 3 \): \(P(9, 3) = \frac{9!}{(9 - 3)!} = \frac{9!}{6!}\) Calculating this, we have: \(P(9, 3) = 9 \times 8 \times 7 = 504\) Thus, the number of ways to seat 9 people in 3 chairs is 504 ways