Three friends have a total of 6 identical pencils, and each one has at least one pencil. In how many ways can this happen?
三个朋友总共有6支相同的铅笔,每人至少有一支。这种情况有多少种分配方式?
(D) The largest number of pencils that any friend can have is four. There are 3 ways that this can happen: (4, 1, 1), (1, 4, 1) and (1, 1, 4). There are 6 ways one person can have 3 pencils: (3, 2, 1), (3, 1, 2), (2, 3, 1), (2, 1, 3), (1, 2, 3) and (1, 3, 2). There is only one way all three can have two pencils each: (2, 2, 2). The total number of possibilities is $3 + 6 + 1 = 10$.
(D)任何一个朋友最多能有四支铅笔。出现这种情况有 3 种方式:(4, 1, 1)、(1, 4, 1)和(1, 1, 4)。有 6 种方式使得某一个人有 3 支铅笔:(3, 2, 1)、(3, 1, 2)、(2, 3, 1)、(2, 1, 3)、(1, 2, 3)和(1, 3, 2)。三个人各有两支铅笔只有一种方式:(2, 2, 2)。可能性的总数是 $3 + 6 + 1 = 10$。