AMC10 2012 10B, Problem 11

A dessert chef prepares the dessert for every day of a week starting with Sunday. The dessert each day is either cake, pie, ice cream, or pudding. The same dessert may not be served two days in a row. There must be cake on Friday because of a birthday. How many different dessert menus for the week are possible?

Solution: Desserts must be chosen for $7$ days: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. There are $3$ choices for dessert on Saturday: pie, ice cream, or pudding, as there must be cake on Friday and the same dessert may not be served two days in a row. Likewise, there are $3$ choices for dessert on Thursday. Once dessert for Thursday is selected, there are $3$ choices for dessert on Wednesday, once Wednesday's dessert is selected there are $3$ choices for dessert on Tuesday, etc. Thus, there are $3$ choices for dessert for each of $6$ days, so the total number of possible dessert menus is $3^6$, or $\fbox{729}$.

Answer: 729