Question 17. Six ladybugs have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 spots each. Marta took four photos of them in groups of three. Each ladybug appeared the same number of times in the photos. Three of the photos, along with the outline of the fourth photo, are shown here. How many spots do the three ladybugs in Marta's fourth photo have in total? To solve this question, we need to notice that each of the ladybugs appeared the same number of times in the photos in total. We know that there are four photos, and each photo has three ladybugs in them. So, there will be twelve ladybugs in total in all of the photos. And, since we have six ladybugs, we know that each ladybug appears in the photos twice. So, let's take a look at each potential ladybug. We have two of the one-dotted, two of the two-dotted, and so on. And with this, we can start solving. We know that there is a photo with a one-dotted ladybug. We can knock that off as a potential leftover. We can take away the two-dotted, the five-dotted, another one-dotted, a three-dotted, a six-dotted, a three-dotted, a four-dotted, and finally, a five-dotted ladybug. We are left with three ladybugs that have to be in the last photo. We have two dots, four dots, and six dots. When we add these together, we get our answer, which will be D, twelve.

ladybugs

spots

photos

elimination

total