A history teacher gives a 17-question true-false exam. In how many ways can the test be answered if the possible answers are T or F or possibly to leave the answer blank?

129,140,163 ways is the answer, but I don't know how to get to the answer.

Question

A history teacher gives a 17-question true-false exam. In how many ways can the test be answered if the possible answers are T or F or possibly to leave the answer blank?
 
129,140,163 ways is the answer, but I don't know how to get to the answer.

jim_thompson5910 · Answer

You compute 2^17 to get that result

jim_thompson5910 · Answer

oh wait, sry, 3^17 because you have T, F or B for blank

jim_thompson5910 · Answer

the reason being because you have 3 choices for question 1, 3 for question 2, etc etc

multiply 3's 17 times to get 3*3*3*....*3*3 = 3^17 = 129,140,163

anonymous · Answer

That makes sense! Thank you very much!

jim_thompson5910 · Answer

you're welcome