A number of students were asked this question:
"How many cousins do you have?"
- The lowest answer given was 6.
- The highest answer given was 20.
- The total of all the answers given was 50.

What is the smallest number of students who could have been asked?

Four
For example: Student #1 has 20 (highest) Student #2 has 6 (lowest) Student #3 has 16 Student #4 has 8 20 + 6 + 16 + 8 = 50

Answered by Blickster | 2024-06-10

The smallest number of students who could have been asked is 6.
To find the smallest number of students:
Calculate the range of answers: 20 - 6 = 14.
Divide the total sum of answers (50) by the range: 50 / 14 = 3 remainder 8.
Since each student must give a different answer, the lowest answer of 6 must be repeated as many times as the remainder: 6, 6, 6, in this case.
So, at least 3 students are needed (6, 6, 6), and since there are 8 left in the remainder, at least 4 students are needed. Thus, the smallest number of students who could have been asked is 6 + 4 = 10 students.

Answered by Qwletter | 2024-06-24

The smallest number of students who could have been asked is 6. By assuming students gave answers of 6 and 20, we calculated the minimum total number of students that satisfied the total of 50 answers. Using this approach, we confirmed through testing values that 6 students meet the conditions.
;

Answered by Qwletter | 2024-10-02