In band class, 4 students who play the clarinet compete for 15 chair, 2nd chair, 3rd chair, and 4th chair positions. How many different ways could the 4 students possibly end up in the positions?

step-by-step explanation:

(s)he  is right it would be 5.5% because it is smaller than 15.5% or anything smaller than 15.5% in general

hello from mrbilldoesmath!

answer:

(7 x + 6 y) (49 x^2 - 42 x y + 36 y^2)

discussion:

the trick is to recognize that 343 = 7^3 and 216 = 6^3 and, in general,

a^3 + b^3 =   (a + b) (a^2 - a b + b^2).

in our case

343x^3+216y^3   =   (7x)^3 + (6y)^3

so take a = 7x and b = 6y in the above equation to get the answer.

you,

mrb