The surnames of 40 children in a class arranged in alphabetical order. 16 of the surnames begins with O and 9 of the surname begins with A, 14, of the letters of the alphabet do not appear as the first letter of a surname If more than one surname begins with a letter besides A and O, how may surnames begin with that letter?

Step-by-step explanation:

40children - 23 (with A, O) = 17left

26 letter in alphabet- ( A, O) = 24 letter left

24 letters left - 14 (not used for 1st letters) = 10

10 letters left to use/ 17 children left

10÷17 = 0.5882352941 x 10 =5.8 or as close to 6 I can get

14 of the letters of the alphabet do not appear as the first letter of surname

∴ the no. of letters that appeared = 26-14 = 12 alphabets

15 surnames begin with 10 letters beside O and A

∴ 6 surnames begin with a letter

24 units

step-by-step explanation: