Fundamental Principle of

Counting
Do you like ice cream?
An ice cream parlor is selling ice cream in cups at a discounted price. A
customer can choose from one of these three ice cream flavors: vanilla,
chocolate, or strawberry, and choose one from these toppings: nuts,
candy sprinkles, or marshmallows.

What ice cream flavor topping do you want?

Tree Diagram

N N N

V CS C CS S CS

M M M
Grid Table

Flavors and NUTS (N) Candy Sprinkles Marshmallows (M)

Toppings (CS)
Vanilla (V) (V, N) (V, CS) (V, M)
Chocolate (C) (C, N) (C, CS) (C, M)
Strawberry (S) (S, N) (S, CS) (S, M)
It’s time to vote!
In a certain school, a president, a secretary, and a treasurer will form
the executive body of the student government. There are two
candidates, A and B, for president, two candidates, C and D, for
secretary, and three candidates E, F, and G, for treasurer.

What are the different possible compositions of the executive body.

Tree Diagram
E E

C F C F

G G
A B
E E

D F D F

G G
Fundamental Principle of Counting
If one task can be done in “m” ways, a second task can be performed in
“n” ways, the third in “p” ways, then the number of ways in doing such
task is given by

Where m, n, p and so on are the number of ways of doing respective

tasks.
Example 1
Regular plate numbers in the Philippines consist of three letters
followed by three numbers from 0 – 9. How many different license
plate numbers with different letters and different numbers can be
formed such that

a. The first letter is T?

b. The last number is 8?
c. The three numbers form an odd three – digit number?
Example 2
Two cards are drawn without replacement from a deck of 52 cards.
How many ways can you draw two cards of different colors.
Example 3
To access your account through an automated teller machine, you need
to use a personal identification number or PIN, which consists of either
4 or 6 digits. How many different PINs are possible with

a. Four distinct digits?

b. Six distinct digits?
c. Any four digits?
d. Any six digits?
Drill
New car license plate numbers will be issued consisting of three letters
followed by four digits. How many different license plate numbers are
possible if

a. The first letter can only be one of the following: N, P, T, U, W, X, and

Z?
b. The two letters have to be different?
c. All four digits should be distinct?
d. The first and the last digits are identical?