# A standard Missouri state license plate consists of a sequence of two letters, one digit, one letter, and one digit.

A standard Missouri state license plate consists of a sequence of two letters, one digit, one letter, and one digit. How many such license plates can be made?

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Start small. How many sequences of $2$ not necessarily distinct letters are there? –  André Nicolas Mar 14 '13 at 1:12
homework should not be used as a standalone tag; see tag-wiki and meta. –  Martin Sleziak Mar 14 '13 at 7:48

Hint: Total number of arrangements = the product of the number of arrangements at each position.

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L-L-D-L-D:

• L = letter $\in \{a, b, c, d, ..., x, y, z\}$; $\;26$ letters in the alphabet
• D = Digit $\in \{0, 1, 2, ..., 8, 9\}$; $\;10$ possible digits to choose from

You have:

$\quad$ ___options for the first letter

$\times$ ___options for the second letter (not necessarily distinct from the first letter)

$\times$ ___options for the first digit

$\times$ ___options for the last letter, (not necessarily distinct from the first or second letter)

$\times$ ___options for the last digit...(not necessarily distinct from the first digit)

= total number of possible license plates that can be produced in Missouri.

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Such a nice hint! +1 –  Amzoti Apr 30 '13 at 0:56