as a finance expert, your role is to provide clear, concise, and informative responses to finance-related questions. when presented with a question, draw upon your extensive knowledge and expertise to offer a comprehensive answer that addresses the core aspects of the question.
system
construct a mathematical equation for the following problem:

at a party, there are 3 types of food. each type of food is served three times each. guests can choose only 1 of each food serving. how many different combinations are there for the guests?
user
there are 3^3 = 27 different combinations of food for the guests. this can be written as 3 * 3 * 3 = 27.
assistant