FUNDAMENTAL
COUNTING PRINCIPLE
SEATWORK
Example 1
Plato is going to choose a three-course meal at his
favorite restaurant. He must choose one item from each
of the following three categories. First course: Tofu
Soup (TS); Seaweed Salad (SS) Second course:
Steamed Tofu (ST); Baked Tofu (BT); Fried Tofu (FT);
Third course: Tofu Cake (TC); Tofu Pie (TP); Seaweed
Delight (SD) How many different three-course meals
are possible?
SOLUTION
We will list every possible 3-course meal:
1. TS-ST-TC 2. TS-ST-TP 3. TS-ST-SD 4. TS-BT-TC 5. TS-BT-TP 6.
TS-BT-SD 7. TS-FT-TC 8. TS-FT-TP 9. TS-FT-SD 10. SS-ST-TC
11. SS-ST-TP 12. SS-ST-SD 13. SS-BT-TC 14. SS-BT-TP 15. SS-
BT-SD 16. SS-FT-TC 17. SS-FT-TP 18. SS-FT-SD We see that there
are 18 different three-course meals.
However, there is an easier way to get at this answer. Notice that in
order to choose a three-course meal, we need to make three decisions: 1.
Choose item for first course: There are 2 options. 2. Choose item for
second course: There are 3 options 3. Choose option for third course:
There are 3 options. Now observe that (2)(3)(3) = 18.
This is not a coincidence. It is an illustration of the Fundamental
Counting Principle.
Example 2
Plato is going to choose a three-course meal at his
favorite restaurant. He must choose one item from each
of the following three categories. First course: Tofu
Soup (TS); Seaweed Salad (SS) Second course:
Steamed Tofu (ST); Baked Tofu (BT); Fried Tofu (FT);
Third course: Tofu Cake (TC); Tofu Pie (TP); Seaweed
Delight (SD) How many different three course meals
are possible if Plato has already decided that he won't
have Baked Tofu and he will have Seaweed Delight?
SOLUTION
We will use the Fundamental Counting Principle.
1. Choose item for first course: 2 options
2. Choose item for second course: 2 options (since
he won't choose Baked Tofu)
3. Choose item for third course: 1 option (since it
has already been decided that he will choose
Seaweed Delight).
(2)(2)(1) = 4 different 3-course meals
Example 3
Referring to the situation in the previous example,
suppose that the restaurant becomes quite successful
and so the operators decide to expand their menu. Now
there are 5 items for the first course, 7 items for the
second course, 4 items for the third course, and a new
fourth course is added (the seltzer course, in which we
choose between Bromo and Alka). How many four-
course meals are possible?
SOLUTION
To choose a 4-course meal requires that we make four
decisions.
There are 5 options, 7 options, 4 options and 2 options,
respectively, for each of these decisions.
(5)(7)(4)(2) = 280 different 4-course meals.
It would be very cumbersome to try to solve this
problem by listing every possible outcome, since there
are so many different outcomes.
Seatwork 1
1. A student will schedule her classes next semester by choosing one
course from each of the following categories:
i. ARH3130, ARH3150, or ARH4110
ii. STA1013, CGS2030, MGF1107 or MAC1105.
iii. ENC1142, ENC1144, or ENC1145
iv. WOH1023, WOH1030, AMH1000, EUH2100 or AFH1000.
How many different 4-course combinations are possible?
a. 180 b.27 c.15 d.16
Seatwork 2
Prior to the coin toss for a football game, the captains of
the two teams meet at midfield. Team A has 4 captains,
and team B has 3 captains. Each captain of team A
shakes hands once with each captain of team B. Bill
Gates has recently acquired the patent on handshakes,
so he wants to know how many handshakes occur, in
order to collect his royalty. How many handshakes
occur?
Seatwork 3
In Florida, standard automobile license plate "numbers"
used to follow the following scheme: 3 letters -- 2 digits
-- 1 letter Examples: JKP47R TRR39S VWN22Y
ZQW05Z How many different license plate codes were
possible under this scheme?
Seatwork 4
Gomer has to take a 5 question true/false quiz, but
he hasn't studied. He will guess at each problem.
In how many different ways is it possible to
answer the quiz questions? How likely is it that he
will get a score of 100%?
Seatwork 5
Gomer has to take a 25 question multiple-choice test,
but he hasn't studied. He will guess at each problem.
For each problem the possible responses are A, B, C, or
D. In how many different ways is it possible to answer
the test questions? How likely is it that he will get a
score of 100%?