Use the Fundamental Counting Principle
Solve the problem.
-A restaurant offers a choice of 3 salads, 10 main courses, and 4 desserts. How many possible choices for a meal are there (including single items)?
A)219 possible meals
B)202 possible meals
C)179 possible meals
D)137 possible meals

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

To find the total number of possible meal choices, we multiply the number of choices for each course: 
3 salads × 10 main courses × 4 desserts = 120 possible combinations. However, we need to remember to include the option of just choosing a single item from any of the courses, so we add those possibilities: 
3 salads + 10 main courses + 4 desserts = 17 single item choices. 
Therefore, the total number of possible meal choices is 120 + 17 = 219.