Question

Joel is getting a dog, a cat, and a hamster. He goes to the pet store and can choose from 8 dogs, 12 cats, and 5 hamsters. How many different combinations can he get?

Answer 1

It can be 1/8
Or 1/12
Or 1/5

Answer 2

480

Explanation:

He can choose one of 8 dogs, one of 12 cats, and one of 5 hamsters.

There are 8 ways to choose 1 dog out of 8. There are 12 ways to choose 1 cat out of 12. There are 5 ways to choose 1 hamster out of 5.

This gives us

8(12)(5) = 96(5) = 480