possible outcomes and combinations. you can choose white or chocolate milk and chocolate chip,...

Possible Outcomes and Combinations

You can chooseWhite or Chocolate Milk

ANDChocolate Chip, Peanut Butter, or

Snickerdoodle cookies

To find how many possible combinations there are, you take the number of possibilities

in your first choice and multiply it by the number of possibilities in your second choice.




So…in this example, you have 2 choices of milk and 3 choices of cookies, so you have

2 x 3 or 6 possible combinations of one milk and one cookie.




Next, you will want to create a list of the possible combinations. To do this, it is VERY important to stay organized. Start with white milk and list the combinations that you can have with white milk. Then do the same with chocolate milk.




White Milk Chocolate Milk

So, you could chooseWhite milk and Chocolate ChipWhite milk and peanut butterWhite milk and snickerdoodleChocolate milk and chocolate chipChocolate milk and peanut butterChocolate milk and snickerdoodle


ANDChocolate Chip, Peanut Butter,

or Snickerdoodle cookies

Let’s try another one

The Indians have 4 jerseys…white, cream, blue, and gray

The Indians have 2 pant colors…white and gray.

How many possible combinations do the Indians have for each game?

4 jerseys x 2 pants = 8 combinations

Blue Jersey Cream Jersey Gray Jersey White Jersey

White Pants

White Pants

White Pants

White Pants

Gray Pants

Gray Pants

Gray Pants

Gray Pants

So, the list of possible uniform combinations would be…

• Blue jersey, white pants• Blue jersey, gray pants• Cream jersey, white pants• Cream jersey, gray pants• Gray jersey, white pants• Gray jersey, gray pants• White jersey, white pants• White jersey, gray pants

Now try one on your own

You are going to make a sandwich. You can choose one meat (turkey, bologna, or ham) and one cheese (American, swiss, or cheddar).

How many possible combinations are there?

List the possible sandwich combinations that you could make.

You can choose one meat (turkey, bologna, or ham) and one cheese

(American, swiss, or cheddar).

There are 3 meats to choose from and 3 cheeses to choose from…so

3 x 3 = 9 possible combinations

The list of possible outcomes is listed below…

Turkey & American Turkey & swiss Turkey & cheddar

Bologna & American Bologna & swiss Bologna & cheddar

Ham & American Ham & swiss Ham & cheddar

Try another one…

You are making an ice cream sundae. You can choose chocolate or vanilla ice cream. You can choose hot fudge, peanut butter, butterscotch, or whipped cream on top.

How many possible combinations are there of one ice cream and one topping?

List the possible combinations.

Ice Cream Choices

Chocolate

or Vanilla

Topping Choices

Hot Fudge, Peanut Butter, Butterscotch, or Whipped Cream

There are 2 ice cream choices and 4 topping choices, so there are 2 x 4 or 8 possible combinations.

The list of possible combinations is…Chocolate with Hot Fudge Vanilla with Hot Fudge

Chocolate with Peanut Butter Vanilla with Peanut Butter

Chocolate with Butterscotch Vanilla with Butterscotch

Chocolate with Whipped Cream Vanilla with Whipped Cream

The same strategy can be used when you are finding

combinations with 3 options

Suppose…

You have 3 shirts (a green, a yellow, and a blue).

You have 2 pairs of pants (blue or tan)

You have 3 pairs of socks (black, white, and tan) How many possible combinations are there?

List the possible combinations (organization is VERY important!!!).

You have 3 shirts, 2 pants, and 3 socks…so

you take 3 x 2 x 3 = 18 outfits.Green Shirt Yellow Shirt Blue Shirt

Blue

Pants

Blue

Pants

Blue

Pants

Tan

Pants

Tan

Pants

Tan

Pants

Black socks

Ta

n socks

Wh

ite so

cks

Black socks

Black socks

Black socks

Black socks

Black socks

Wh

ite so

cks

Wh

ite so

cks

Wh

ite so

cks

Wh

ite so

cks

Wh

ite so

cks

Ta

n socks

Ta

n socks

Ta

n socks

Ta

n socks

Ta

n socks

So…your list would be…Shirt Pants Socks

1. Green Blue Black

2. Green Blue White

3. Green Blue Tan

4. Green Tan Black

5. Green Tan White

6. Green Tan Tan

7. Yellow Blue Black

8. Yellow Blue White

9. Yellow Blue Tan

10. Yellow Tan Black

11. Yellow Tan White

12. Yellow Tan Tan

13. Blue Blue Black

14. Blue Blue White

15. Blue Blue Tan

16. Blue Tan Black

17. Blue Tan White

18. Blue Tan Tan

possible outcomes and combinations. you can choose white or chocolate milk and chocolate chip,...

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