A person going to a party was asked to bring 4 different bags of chips. Going to the store, she finds 12 varieties.

Answer 1

Hi Rachel,

I assume the question is how many different 4-bag combinations of chips can there be? If so, formula for that mirrors the binomial coefficient:

C(n,x) = n!/x!(n-x)!

n= total chip varieties

x= number of bags

!=Factorial i.e. 4*3*2*1, etc. You can input into a TI-80s series calculator

For our problem:

n=12

x=4

C(12,4) = 12!/(4!*8!)

C(12,4) = 495

495 possible chip combinations. I hope this helps.