Systematic listing and the product rule for counting worksheet — GCSE Higher

1.A photography studio offers 4 backdrops and 3 outfits for a portrait session. The plain grey backdrop, one of the 4 backdrops, cannot be used with the formal suit outfit, one of the 3 outfits. Work out how many different backdrop-and-outfit combinations are possible.

2.Ten athletes run in a final. Gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded to the first three athletes to finish, and there are no ties. Work out how many different ways the three medals can be awarded.

3.A car manufacturer offers a car in 6 colours and 4 trim levels. Two colour-and-trim combinations are not available: red with sport trim, and white with sport trim. Work out how many different colour-and-trim combinations are available.

4.Ten players enter a chess tournament. Every player plays every other player exactly once. Work out how many games are played in the tournament.

5.By listing systematically, work out how many two-digit multiples of 5 can be made using the digits 0, 3 and 5, if each digit can be used at most once and the number cannot start with 0.

6.Two fair six-sided dice are rolled together. One die is red and the other is blue. Work out how many different outcomes are possible.

7.Five different books are placed in a row on a shelf. Work out how many different orders the five books can be placed in.

8.A school council must choose a committee of 3 pupils from 8 volunteers. The three places on the committee are all the same, so only which pupils are chosen matters. Work out how many different committees could be formed.

9.Two-digit numbers are made using the digits 1, 2, 3 and 4, and no digit may be used twice in the same number. Work out how many different two-digit numbers can be made.

10.A driving instructor is working out how many current-style UK number plates are possible. The format is 2 letters, then 2 digits, then a space, then 3 letters (for example AB12 CDE). The letters I, O and Q are never used in any letter position, leaving 23 allowed letters, but every letter and every digit may repeat anywhere on the plate. Work out how many different number plates are possible, giving your answer in standard form to 2 significant figures.

11.A 3-character PIN starts with one letter chosen from A, B, C, D and E, followed by two different digits chosen from 1 to 9 (no digit may be used twice in the same PIN). Work out how many different PINs are possible.

12.A florist has 5 different flowers. Freya picks 3 of them to make a small bunch, and the order in which she picks them does not matter. Work out how many different bunches she could make.

13.A café sells ice cream in three flavours: vanilla, mango and pistachio. Isla buys a cone with two scoops, using two different flavours, one for the bottom scoop and one for the top scoop. Work out how many different cones she could buy.

14.A padlock code is formed from 3 different digits chosen from 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 (no digit may be used twice in the same code). Work out how many different codes can be made.

15.A café is planning its lunch menu. It will offer one soup from 3 choices and one sandwich from 4 choices, but the mushroom soup, one of the 3 soups, will only be served with the cheese sandwich, one of the 4 sandwiches, on a normal day. Work out how many different soup-and-sandwich combinations are available on a normal day.