Answer:
A customer can select from a total of ten different side combinations.
Explanation:
There are 5 options for the first side, 5 options for the second side, and 5 options for the third side, so there are 5 * 5 * 5 = <<555=125>>125 different combinations of sides. However, each side can be chosen multiple times, so some of these combinations will be duplicates. For example, if the customer chooses rice for all three sides, that will be counted as one combination, but it is actually the same as choosing rice, rice, rice.
To find the number of unique combinations, we can use the combination formula, which is:
combinations = n! / (r! * (n - r)!),
where n is the total number of options and r is the number of options chosen at a time. In this case, n is 5 and r is 3, so the formula becomes:
combinations = 5! / (3! * (5 - 3)!) = 5! / (3! * 2!) = (5 * 4 * 3) / (3 * 2 * 1) = 10.
Therefore, there are a total of 10 different combinations of sides that a customer can choose from.