probability question

Question

Jennna is on a shopping spree. She buys six tops, three shorts and 4 pairs of sandals. How many different outfits consisting of a top, shorts and Sandals can she create from her new purchases?

Answer 1

The basic principle here is that if a first thing can be done in m ways and then a second thing can be done in n ways, the two things sequentially can be done in m * n way.

 

The standard example is if there are 3 roads to go from town A to town B and 2 roads to go from town B to town C, then there are 3 * 2 = 6 ways to go from town A to town C though town B.

 

Now it should make sense that Jenna can create 6 * 3 * 4 = 72 different outfits from her new purchases.