The panini cafe has a special lunch menu in which the diner chooses a soup or salad, a main course, and a dessert. There are 3 choices of soups, 3 for salads, 5 for the main, and 4 for desserts. How many different 3 course meals can diners order for lunch?
I did 3x3x5x4 but I think that is wrong.
I should clarify that I did 3x3x5x4^3.
soup/salad (3 of each) counts as one course. So, there are
6x5x4 ways to pick the three courses
Oh! That makes sense now!
To find the number of different 3-course meals that diners can order for lunch, you can use the concept of combinations.
Step 1: Determine the number of choices for each course.
- Number of soup choices = 3
- Number of salad choices = 3
- Number of main course choices = 5
- Number of dessert choices = 4
Step 2: Multiply the number of choices for each course together.
3 x 3 x 5 x 4 = 180
Therefore, there are 180 different 3-course meals that diners can order for lunch at the Panini Cafe. Your calculation of 3x3x5x4 is correct.