Choose your outfit.

There are 4 tops and 3 pants available. How

many ways can you choose your outfit?

T1 T2 T3 T4

P1 P2 P3 P1 P2 P3 P1 P2 P3 P1 P2 P3

12 ways of choosing
Simple Counting
Principle
 Experiment
is a process or a study that results in the collection of data, the
consequence of which is unknown or uncertain.

Outcome
An outcome of an experiment is a result or a consequence.
Multiplication Rule
There are 4 tops and 3 pants available. How
many ways can you choose your outfit?

T1 n(A)
T2 x n(B)
T3 T4
4 tops x 3 pants
P1 P2 P3 P1 P2 P3 P1 P2 P3 P1 P2 P3

12 ways of choosing
Dining Experience (Choose a main dish and a salad.)
There are 2 main dishes and 3 salads.
M1 M2

S1 S2 S3 S1 S2 S3

n(A) x n(B) 6 choices

2x3
6 choices
Consider tossing a coin and rolling a die at the same
time. How many ways can the coin and the die land?

2 possible outcomes; head or tail

6 possible outcomes; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6

n(A) x n(B)
12 ways
2x6
 Coin Die
1 Possible outcomes:
2
(head, 1) (head, 2) (head, 3)
3
head 4 (head, 4) (head, 5) (head, 6)
5
6
(tail, 1) (tail, 2) (tail, 3)
(tail, 4) (tail, 5) (tail, 6)
1
2

3
12 ways
tail 4
5
6
How many elements are there in the experiment of choosing
a primary color (red, blue, or yellow) and tossing a coin?
Use a grid table.
Red (R) Blue (B) Yellow (Y)
Head (H) RH BH YH
Tail (T) RT BT YT

6 elements
RH, RT, BH, BT, YH, and YT
Make a tree diagram to find the number of choices that are possible. Then, check
your answer using the counting principle.

Choose apple, blueberry, lemon, or cherry pie with juice or tea

juice – apple and juice
apple tea – apple and tea
juice – blueberry and juice
blue 8 possible choices
berry tea – blueberry and tea
juice – lemon and juice counting principle:
lemon tea – lemon and tea 4x2=8
juice – cherry pie and juice
cherry
pie tea – cherry pie and tea
Make a tree diagram to find the number of choices that are possible. Then, check
your answer using the counting principle.

Choose a car or truck with a tape player or a CD player.

tape player – car w/ tape player

car CD player – car w/ CD player
4 possible choices
tape player – truck w/ tape player
truck
CD player – truck w/ CD player

counting principle: 2 x 2 = 4
Make a tree diagram to find the number of choices that are possible. Then, check
your answer using the counting principle.

Choose a hat or scarf in gray, white, or black.

gray - gray hat

hat white - white hat 6 possible choices
black - black hat
counting principle: 2 x 3 = 6
gray - gray scarf
scarf white - white scarf
black - black scarf
Solve each problem using the counting principle.

A car manufacturer has 7 card models and 8 color schemes. How

many choices can it provide to its customers?

counting principle: 7 x 8 = 56
Solve the problem using the counting principle.

A computer shop has 5 types of monitors, 4 CPU systems, and 7 printers

available. How many different computer system consisting of a monitor, a CPU
system, and a printer can be formed?

counting principle: 5 x 4 x 7 = 140

Solve the problem using the counting principle.

A company puts a code on each different product they sell. The code is made
up of 3 numbers and 2 letters. How many different codes are possible?

There are 5 stages (number 1, number 2, number 3, letter 1 and letter 2).
There are 10 possible numbers: 0 – 9.
There are 26 possible letters: A – Z.

10 * 10 * 10 * 26 * 26

= 676, 000 possible codes

Solve the problem using the counting principle.

You take a survey with five “yes” or “no” answers. How many different ways could
you complete the survey?

There are 5 stages: Question 1, question 2, question 3, question 4, and question 5.

There are 2 choices for each question (Yes or No)

2*2*2*2*2

= 32 ways
If there are 7 main dishes, 6 beverages, 8 desserts, and
4 soups, how many ways can you choose for a main
dish, a beverage, a dessert and a soup?

7x6x8x4

= 1, 344 ways
Solve each problem using the counting principle.

A computer shop has 5 types of monitors, 4 CPU systems, and 7 printers

available. How many different computer system consisting of a monitor, a
CPU system, and a printer can be formed?
counting principle: 5 x 4 x 7 = 140

In a product test, 60 cell phones with camera or MP3 functions are

tested. There are 36 phones with the MP3 functions and 42 phones with
the camera function. How many cellphones are there with both camera
and MP3 function?
counting principle: 36 + 42 = 78
78 – 60 = 18