How many ways can Laura color a map with 4 adjacent regions if she has 15 colored pencils?

Answer 1

To determine the number of ways Laura can color a map with 4 adjacent regions using 15 colored pencils, we can use the principle of the coloring problem. Each of the 4 regions can be colored in any of the 15 colors, but adjacent regions must be different colors. The first region can be colored in 15 ways, the second in 14 ways (to ensure it's different from the first), the third in 14 ways, and the fourth in 14 ways as well. Therefore, the total number of ways to color the map is (15 \times 14^3).