Claudia can choose any two of four different candles and any 8 of 9 di

Question

Claudia can choose any two of four different candles and any 8 of 9 different flowers for a centerpiece arrangement. Given these choices, how many candle + flower groupings can she select?

A. 54
B. 72
C. 96
D. 144
E. 432

Gnpth · Answer

2 candles from 4 candles: 4C2: 6

8 flowers from 9 flowers: 9C8 : 9

So total grouping

9*6= 54.

Answer is A.

Bunuel · Answer

MAGOOSH OFFICIAL SOLUTION:

For this one, we have to use the  Fundamental Counting Principle  (FCP) as well as information about combinations. For the flowers, we want 9C8, which by the symmetry of Pascal’s Triangle, has to equal 9C1, the first entry in the row, which of course equals the row number.
9C8 = 9C1 = 9

That’s the number of flower combinations. For the candles, 4C2, we read the second entry of the fourth row of Pascal’s Triangle.
4C2 = 6

Now, by the FCP, we multiply these for the total number of centerpiece arrangements: 6*9 = 54.

Answer = A

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi All,

We're told that Claudia can choose any two of four different candles and any 8 of 9 different flowers for a centerpiece arrangement. We're asked for the number of candle + flower groupings she can select. When choosing 'groups' of items, the order of your choices does NOT matter, meaning that we can use the Combination Formula to approach this question (although we'll have to use it more than once).

Combination Formula = N!/K!(N-K)! where N is the total number of items and K is the number that you will pick.

We have 4 candles and we are choosing 2.... 4c2 = 4!/2!2! = (4)(3)/(2)(1) = 6 possible groups of candles 
We have 9 flowers and we are choosing 8.... 9c8 = 9!/8!1! = (9)/(1) = 9 possible groups of flowers

Thus, there are (6)(9) = 54 possible groups of candles+flowers.

Final Answer:  A

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made, 
Rich

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

The number of possible groupings is:

4C2 x 9C8 = (4 x 3)/2 x 9 = 6 x 9 = 54

Answer: A

Claudia can choose any two of four different candles and any 8 of 9 di

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Claudia can choose any two of four different candles and any 8 of 9 di

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