Number of subsets of a set

Statement

How many subsets does the set $\{a,b,c,d,e\}$ have?

Solution

To build a subset we decide, for each of the $5$ elements, whether to include it or not: two independent choices per element. In total $2 \times 2 \times 2 \times 2 \times 2 = 2^5 = \boxed{32}$ subsets (including the empty set and the set itself).