Question

How many solutions are there to the equation 10= a + b + c with each of a, b, and c a whole number greater than or equal to zero?

Answer 1

If a is fixed and b,c are unknowns then the equation b+c=10-a has 11-a solutions. They are pairs (b,c): (0,10-a), (1,9-a), (2,8-a), ... (10-a,0). As a runs from 0 to 10 we have total number of solutions (11-0)+(11-1)+...(11-1)=11+10+...+1=(1+11)*11/2=66.