A group of nine friends decides to buy candies, ensuring that each person buys at least one candy. If at most 3 of them buy the same number of candies while the others buy different amounts, what is the least total number of candies they could have purchased?

Correct answer marked below

A

18

B

22

C

25

D

27

30

Correct

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T

TeddyMay 22, 2024

thankss

R

RajuanApr 25, 2025

cheers!

What this question tests

Whether you can count arrangements and selections correctly — permutations vs. combinations.

Overcounting: treating a selection as ordered when order does not matter, or forgetting to divide by duplicates.

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