# combinatorics digraph question

A digraph $G = G(V,E)$ on the set of vertices $V$ is a graph where every edge $e ∈ E$ is directed. (Note that double arrows are not allowed in a digraph.) How many digraphs on $n$ vertices are there?

Can someone help me start this question because I have no idea. I am trying to think how many possible graphs there can be with $n$ vertices but I don't know how many there can be because how can you know what the maximum possible edges there can be with $n$ vertices?

EDIT: Just read a definition that for complete graphs $K_n$ there are $n\choose2$ edges. So the number of possible graphs on $n$ vertices is basically the number of ways to choose a set of edges from a maximum of $n\choose2$ edges.

Let $E=${$e_1,...,e_{n\choose2}$}. So the number of subsets of this is $2^{n\choose2}$ which is the number of graphs on $n$ vertices right?

The number of (labelled, loop-free) undirected graphs is $2^{\binom{n}{2}}$ because for each of the $\binom{n}{2}$ pairs of distinct vertices $u$ and $v$ we choose between (a) adding an edge between $u$ and $v$, or (b) not adding an edge between $u$ and $v$.
Hint: Now for (labelled, loop-free) digraphs, we choose between (a) adding an edge from $u$ to $v$, (b) adding an edge from $v$ to $u$, or (c) not adding an edge between $u$ and $v$.