Problem #WSP-000277

Problem

Mary, who wrote an online computer game, plans to assign every user a unique password.
a) Currently, she wants to have passwords that are $8$ symbols long and are all made from lowercase letters $a,b,c$. How many different passwords can she generate?
b) Her friend suggested a modification: use 8-symbol words made from letters $a,b,c$, with exactly one capital letter, and also include one digit ($0-9$). How many times more passwords can she generate now?