What is counting principle? Explain with uses.

The counting principles are related to the total number of possible combinations.

Answer: The fundamental counting principle is a rule to count all the possible ways for an event to happen or the total number of possible outcomes in a situation.

This principle belongs to the topic ‘Permutations and Combinations’ from algebra.

Explanation:

It states that when there are n ways to do one thing, and m ways to do another thing, then the number of ways to do both the things can be obtained by taking their product. This is expressed as n × m.

For example: 

Jason has 6 shirts, 4 shorts and 2 pair of shoes, all being different in colour. How many different combinations can Jason try?

Applying the basic principle of counting,

Number of different combinations are: 6 × 4 × 2 = 48

Jason can try 48 different combinations.

Therefore, the fundamental counting principle is a rule to count all the possible ways for an event to happen or the total number of possible outcomes in a situation.