Answer:
There are 60 total possible outcomes
Step-by-step explanation:
The Fundamental Counting Principle is one of the essential principles in mathematics. It is the principles that shows or tells us the number of possible outcomes or combination or ways that an event can occur.
Let take for example, we have two situations or events.
Events A and Events B.
The Fundamental Counting Principle states that, the number of ways or possible outcomes through which Events A and B can occur is
Events A × Events B
In the Question above, we are given the following meal categories.
Appetizer: nachos, soup, spinach dip, salad, fruit.
In the Appetizer, we have 5 meals
Entrée: chicken, beef, spaghetti, fish.
In the Entree, we have 4 meals
Dessert: cake, cookies, ice cream.
In the Dessert, we have 3 meals.
The number of possible outcomes is calculated as
The number of meals in the Appetizer × The number of meals in the Entree × The number of meals in the Dessert
= 5 × 4 × 3
= 60 possible outcomes.
Therefore, there are 60 total possible outcomes.