Hidden constrains

[rafael.quigod]

Hi there!

I have a question regarding the problem:

If kelly received 1/3 more votes than Micah which of the following could have been the total number of votes cast for the two candidates.

I get until... "This quantity equals (7/3)M", but I cannot understand why... As a result, the total number of votes cast must be a multiple of 7, why it should be a multible, based on what?

Best

Rafael

[tommywallach]

Votes need to be integers. You can't have a fraction of a vote.

Try various values for M. See what happens?

If that isn't clear yet. Start picking (i.e. invent) values for the number of votes that Micah gets, then work out what Kelly's votes would be (remember both need to be integers). Look at the total number of votes: always a multiple of 7!

-t