Question

The menu for a banquet has a choice of 2 types of salad, 5 main courses, and 3 desserts. How many ways can a salad, main course, and dessert be selected to form a meal?

Short answer

The meal can be selected in30 ways.

Step-by-step solution

Step 1. Given Information.

Given, the menu for a banquet has a choice of 2 types of salad, 5 main courses, and 3 desserts. It is to be determined in how many ways can a salad, main course, and dessert be selected to form a meal.

Step 2. Calculation.

There are 2 ways to choose among the 2 types of salad.

And there are 5 ways to choose among the 5 types of main courses.

And then there are 3 ways to choose among the 3 types of desserts.

By the Fundamental Counting Principle, there are $2\times 5\times 3=30$ possible ways to form a meal.

Step 3. Conclusion.

Hence, by Fundamental Counting Principle, the meal can be formed in 30 ways.