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Algebra Difficulty 2.4 Junior Find the answer

Karim has 23 candies. He eats nn candies and divides the remaining candies equally among his three children so that each child gets an integer number of candies. Which of the following is not a possible value of nn?

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

Solution

After Karim eats nn candies, he has 23−n23-n candies remaining. Since he divides these candies equally among his three children, the integer 23−n23-n must be a multiple of 3. If n=2,5,11,14n=2,5,11,14, we obtain 23−n=21,18,12,923-n=21,18,12,9, each of which is a multiple of 3. If n=9n=9, we obtain 23−n=1423-n=14, which is not a multiple of 3. Therefore, nn cannot equal 9.

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