Adele also must choose between leather or cloth seats for her vehicle. Leather seats come in three color choices; brown, black, and blue. Cloth seats come in two color choices; tan and gray. Using multiplication, Adele says she has (2)(3)(2), or a total of 12, choices for seat covers. Is she correct? Explain why or why not.

Answer:

Adele is incorrect. The fundamental counting principle is used for independent events where every choice in one category can be paired with every choice in another. However, here the colors are specific to the material type. There are 3 choices for leather and 2 choices for cloth, which means there are 3 + 2 = 5 total choices, not 12.