If a car company makes a car with the option of 4 exterior colors, 3 interior colors, and 2 engines, how can the multiplication principle help us to determine the total number of different variations of the car?

Question

Mercury · Answer

Please do not copy-paste my answer. multiplication principle states that the total # of combinations for selecting 1 item each out of multiple sets = (number of items in the first set)(number of items in the second set), etc. this is a little easier to understand when we apply it to your problem. each car gets 1 exterior color, 1 interior color, and 1 engine ---> total # of combinations = (total # of exterior color choices)(total # of interior color choices)(# of engines)