Non native speaker here, can you detail why the later is incorrect?
You'll also see people being pedantic about "less" versus "fewer," e.g. complaining about the "12 items or less" line being improper usage since items are quantized and therefore it should be "12 items or fewer."
Number is for countable distinct things, and amount is for a quantity of a single thing. (Often a substance)
So a number of sticks, a number of socks, a number of people. A number of eggs.
An amount of flour, sugar, water, money, time.
A number of minutes equals an amount of time.
This is short and succinct and sums it up pretty well
And since we're being picky, it should be "the latter is correct", not "the later is correct."