DETERMINING THE NUMBER OF POSSIBLE

OUTCOMES IN AN EXPERIMENT
SLEM # 10 WEEK 7 – 4TH QUARTER
Objective
After going through this lesson, you are
expected to count the number of occurrences
of an outcome in an experiment using different
methods: (a) table; (b) tree diagram; (c)
systematic listing; and (d) fundamental
counting principle.
There are different ways in counting the number of
occurrences of an outcome in an
experiment. It can be done by any of the following
methods:
1. Drawing a Table of Possible Outcomes,
2. Constructing a Tree Diagram,
3. Systematic Listing, and
4. Applying Fundamental Counting Principles
(FCP).
1. In flipping a coin twice, how many possible outcomes are there?

A. TABLE

FIRST FLIP/SECOND FLIP Head Tail

Head
Tail

There are four possible outcomes in flipping a coin twice

B. TREE DIAGRAM
C. SYSTEMATIC LISTING (S – sample space)

S = {(Head, Head), (Head, Tail), (Tail, Head), (Tail, Tail)}

There are four possible outcomes in flipping a coin twice.

D. FUNDAMENTAL COUNTING PRINCIPLES (FCP)

D.1. PRODUCT RULE: If a procedure consists of sequential tasks T1, T2, …,
Tm that can be done in n1, n2, …, nm ways, respectively, then
there are n1 · n2 · … ·nm ways to carry out the procedure.
D.2. SUM RULE: If a procedure consists of sequential tasks T1, T2, …, Tm
that can be done in n1, n2, …, nm ways, respectively, and no
two of these tasks can be done at the same time, then there
are n1 + n2 + …,+nm ways to do one of these tasks.
Since flipping a coin twice consists of sequential tasks, then
product rule will be applied. In the first flip, there are two possible
outcomes (Head or Tail). In the second flip, there are also two
possible outcomes (Head or Tail). Hence, there are 2 · 2 = 4
possible outcomes in flipping a coin twice.
B. TREE DIAGRAM
C. SYSTEMATIC LISTING

S = {PB, PI, PM, KB, KI, KM, LB, LI, LM}

D. FUNDAMENTAL COUNTING PRINCIPLES
There are three possible food choices
(Pancit Malabon, Kakanin or Lugaw).
There are also three possible drink choices
(Buko Juice, Iced or Mango Sahake).
Hence, there are

3 · 3 = 9 possible food and drink choices

in Heroes’ restaurant.
Assignment