Use the Fundamental Counting Principle
-A student must choose 1 of 5 science electives, 1 of 8 social studies electives, and 1 of 7 language electives. How many possible course selections are there?
A) 280 course selections
B) 20 course selections
C) 40 course selections
D) 560 course selections

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The Fundamental Counting Principle states that if there are n ways to do one thing, and m ways to do another, then there are n * m ways to do both. Here, the student has 5 choices for science, 8 for social studies, and 7 for language, so the total number of course selections is 5 * 8 * 7 = 280.