[Math] How many three digit sequences using the numbers 0 … 9 with conditions

combinatorics

How many three digit sequences using the numbers 0 … 9 with conditions
(a) Repetition of digits is allowed and the sequence cannot start with 0?
(b) Repetition of digits is not allowed and the sequence cannot start with 0?

For part (a) I did the following:
(9)(10)(10) = 900

I am stuck on part (b), I know that when you sample without replacement you want to use n!/(n-r)! But in this problem n isn't constant. The first time a digit is picked there are 9 possible digits because the sequence cannot start with 0. The second time a digit is picked there are still 9 possible digits because we are sampling without replacement and the third time a digit is picked there are 8 possible digits left. I am not sure how to combine this information to solve for part (b). Any suggestions?

Best Answer

for part a, it is $9 \times 10 \times 10$ as you did.

for part b, it is $9 \times 9 \times 8$