In how many ways can 5 apples be distributed to 4 boys, if there is no restriction as to how many apples are distributed to which boy?
We can divide it like this: o | o| o | o o
We have 5 apples and 3 dividers.
We then use the stars and bars formula. So we have (5+3)!/5!3!= 8C3=56 ways.