Question

Tristan is in charge of cheerleading tryouts for their school. They need to pick 12 new cheerleaders to allocate across both the varsity and junior varsity squads. Which of the following is a viable solution?

8 varsity cheerleaders and 4 junior varsity cheerleaders
15 varsity cheerleaders and -3 junior varsity cheerleaders
8 varsity cheerleaders and 8 junior varsity cheerleaders
0 varsity cheerleaders and 12 junior varsity cheerleaders

Answer 1

Viable solutions must be nonnegative integers that add to 12.

- 8 varsity and 4 junior varsity: 8 + 4 = 12 — viable.
- 15 varsity and -3 junior varsity: negative number of cheerleaders — not viable.
- 8 varsity and 8 junior varsity: 8 + 8 = 16 ≠ 12 — not viable.
- 0 varsity and 12 junior varsity: 0 + 12 = 12 — viable.

So the viable options are 8 varsity & 4 junior varsity and 0 varsity & 12 junior varsity.