Answer
a. $60$
b. $56$
Work Step by Step
a. There are $5$ choices for the first object, $4$ choices for the second object, and $3$ for the third object, so there are a total of $60$ possibilities.
b. There are 8 choices for the first object and 7 for the second, so by the multiplication rule, there are $8*7 = 56$ total choices.