document.write( "Question 1204839: There is a group of five children, where two of the children are twins. In how
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document.write( "many ways can I distribute 18 identical pieces of candy to the children, if the
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document.write( "twins must get 7 pieces of candy? \n" );
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Algebra.Com's Answer #841369 by greenestamps(13200)![]() ![]() You can put this solution on YOUR website! \n" ); document.write( "The statement of the problem is not clear, leading to different possible interpretations. My interpretation differs from that shown in the response from tutor @Edwin in two ways. (1) The problem does not say that each child must get at least one candy, so the numbers each child gets are non-negative integers, not positive integers. (2) The number of candies each of the twins gets is not important; the only requirement is that together they get 7 pieces. \n" ); document.write( "With that interpretation.... \n" ); document.write( "Take the 7 pieces of candy and give them to the twins (to be shared between them in any way). \n" ); document.write( "That leaves 11 pieces of candy to be divided among the other three children. Using the \"stars and bars\" process, there are 11 stars (the pieces of candy) and 2 bars (to divided the stars (candies) into 3 groups). The number of ways to distribute the candies is then the number of ways of arranging the symbols \r\n" ); document.write( "***********|| \n" ); document.write( "By a well-known counting principle, that number ways is \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "ANSWER (with this interpretation): 78 \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " |