Question

Professor oger must choose between an extra writing assignment and an extra reading assignment for the upcoming spring break. for the writing assignment, there are two essay topics to choose from and three different mandatory lengths (30 pages, 35 pages, or 40 pages). the reading topic would consist of one scholarly biography combined with one volume of essays. there are five biographies and three volumes of essays to choose from. how many choices does she have? hint [see example 2.]

Answer 1

For the writing assignment, the number of ways of choosing from two essay topics three different mandatory lengths is given by:

$^2C_1 \times { ^3C_1}= 2\times3=6$

Thus, he has 20 choices to make for the writing assignment.

For the reading assignment, the number of ways of choosing from five biographies and three volumes of essays is given by:

5 x 3 = 15

Therefore, the total number of choices is given by 6 + 15 = 21 choices.