Distribution doubt

Angela has to distribute 15 chocolates among 5 of her children cupcake, pancake, lollipop, pie and gingerbread. She needs to make sure that cupcake get at least 3 and at most 6 chocolates. Find the number of ways can this be done. The answer is 435

Okay now I am getting 425. this is my way.
The question is same as asking the number of integer solutions of the equation
15=a+b+c+d+e15=a+b+c+d+e constraint to the relation that 3a6 3\leq a \leq 6 and 1b,c,d,e151\leq b,c,d,e\leq15. Which is equivalent to finding the coefficient of x15x^{15} in (x3+x4+x5+x6)(x+x2++x15)4(x^3+x^4+x^5+x^6)(x+x^2 + \cdots+x^{15})^4 .

I checked from wolfram alpha that the coefficient is coming out to be 425. But the answer is 435. Can anyone provide a correct solution and tell me what I am doing wrong?

#Combinatorics

Note by Rishi Sharma
4 years, 7 months ago

No vote yet
1 vote

  Easy Math Editor

This discussion board is a place to discuss our Daily Challenges and the math and science related to those challenges. Explanations are more than just a solution — they should explain the steps and thinking strategies that you used to obtain the solution. Comments should further the discussion of math and science.

When posting on Brilliant:

  • Use the emojis to react to an explanation, whether you're congratulating a job well done , or just really confused .
  • Ask specific questions about the challenge or the steps in somebody's explanation. Well-posed questions can add a lot to the discussion, but posting "I don't understand!" doesn't help anyone.
  • Try to contribute something new to the discussion, whether it is an extension, generalization or other idea related to the challenge.
  • Stay on topic — we're all here to learn more about math and science, not to hear about your favorite get-rich-quick scheme or current world events.

MarkdownAppears as
*italics* or _italics_ italics
**bold** or __bold__ bold

- bulleted
- list

  • bulleted
  • list

1. numbered
2. list

  1. numbered
  2. list
Note: you must add a full line of space before and after lists for them to show up correctly
paragraph 1

paragraph 2

paragraph 1

paragraph 2

[example link](https://brilliant.org)example link
> This is a quote
This is a quote
    # I indented these lines
    # 4 spaces, and now they show
    # up as a code block.

    print "hello world"
# I indented these lines
# 4 spaces, and now they show
# up as a code block.

print "hello world"
MathAppears as
Remember to wrap math in \( ... \) or \[ ... \] to ensure proper formatting.
2 \times 3 2×3 2 \times 3
2^{34} 234 2^{34}
a_{i-1} ai1 a_{i-1}
\frac{2}{3} 23 \frac{2}{3}
\sqrt{2} 2 \sqrt{2}
\sum_{i=1}^3 i=13 \sum_{i=1}^3
\sin \theta sinθ \sin \theta
\boxed{123} 123 \boxed{123}

Comments

You're not doing anything wrong. A brute force check using Python also reports that the answer is indeed 425.

Prasun Biswas - 4 years, 7 months ago

Log in to reply

Thanks. Then I guess there must have been some sort of printing mistake.

Rishi Sharma - 4 years, 7 months ago
×

Problem Loading...

Note Loading...

Set Loading...