SOLUTION: 4 students have 16 balloons in total and each of them has a different number of balloons. At least how many balloons does the student with the most balloons have?

Algebra ->  Percentage-and-ratio-word-problems -> SOLUTION: 4 students have 16 balloons in total and each of them has a different number of balloons. At least how many balloons does the student with the most balloons have?      Log On


   

Question 1135671: 4 students have 16 balloons in total and each of them has a different number of balloons. At least how many balloons does the student with the most balloons have?
Found 2 solutions by ikleyn, greenestamps:
Answer by ikleyn(52759) About Me  (Show Source):
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The answer is  16 - (2 + 3 + 5) = 16 - 10 = 6.


Answer.  The student with the most balloons has at least 6 balloons.


Answer by greenestamps(13196) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!


If each of the 4 students had 4 balloons, that would be the total of 16. So if each of them has to have a different number of balloons, then the one with the most balloons must have at least 5.

Can we make a total of 16 if 5 is the largest number any of them has? No; the largest total we could get would be 5+4+3+2 = 14.

So what about 6? Can we make a total of 16 balloons if 6 is the largest number any of them has? Yes. 6+5+4+1 = 16; or 6+5+3+2 = 16.

ANSWER: 6