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LGB p.549 numerical distribution

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freddythepup
LSAT Leader
 
Posts: 34
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2018 2:21 pm
Points: 34

Hi,

Can you please explain more in depth number 4 in this drill set? I'm not sure how you can make an inference that there will be 4 cages? Thanks.
Adam Tyson
PowerScore Staff
PowerScore Staff
 
Posts: 2552
Joined: Thu Apr 14, 2011 5:01 pm
Points: 2,366

Hey Freddy, if you are talking about the drill with the 7 animals being placed into cages, you cannot infer that there are only 4 cages! Our answer key shows that as a possibility (a 3-2-1-1 or 2-2-2-1 distribution), but it also shows another possibility with only 3 cages (a 3-2-2 distribution, which obeys all the rules).

We can't do it in more than 4 cages, because we would have to break a rule there (more than 2 cages with just 1 animal in them), and we cannot do it in fewer than 3 cages because we would have to break at least one other rule (max 3 per cage). So, the distributions here only allow for either 3 or 4 cages, but we cannot be sure which it is. In a real game scenario, that would probably mean setting up three templates based around those three distributions!

I hope that clarifies it for you!
Adam M. Tyson
PowerScore LSAT, GRE, ACT and SAT Instructor
Follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/LSATadam
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