Question

a superhero recently asked his nemesis how many cats she has. she answered with a riddle: "seven eights" of my cats plus two" how many cats does the nemesis have?

Answer 1

why would a superhero ask his nemesis how many cats she had

Answer 2

I need help please ;)

Answer 3

the statements says that the number of cats is equal to:
"seven eights" of my cats plus two

that means that the "two" must refer to the remaining cats, which represent one-eight of the total.

do you understand so far?

Answer 4

truthfully not really :(

Answer 5

ok, let me try and explain more clearly...

Answer 6

okay thanks :)

Answer 7

we are told that the number of cats is:

"7/8" of my cats plus 2

this can also be stated as:

"7/8" of my cats plus "1/8" of my cats (since 7/8 + 1/8 = 1)

make sense?

Answer 8

if not, I can try another way

Answer 9

yes it does make sense :)

Answer 10

ok - good

Answer 11

so now you can see why the "plus two" means that the "two" represents 1/8 of the total number of cats?

Answer 12

so does that mean I have 3 cats?

Answer 13

no - remember the 2 represents 1/8 of the total number of cats.

so if 1/8 of the total is 2

then how many cats altogether?

Answer 14

lets call the total number of cats c, then we can write:\[\frac{c}{8}=2\]so what will c equal?

Answer 15

8? I am still a little confused

Answer 16

1/8 of 8 is 1. so that cannot be correct.

Answer 17

1/8 of what number will give you 2?

Answer 18

so 1 cat?

Answer 19

1/8 of 1 is 1/8 - you cannot have an eight of a cat - at least not one that is alive! :)

Answer 20

16 cats? :(

Answer 21

bingo! well done! :)

Answer 22

yay! thank you God bless you! :)

Answer 23

it might be worth you reviewing what was done so that you understand this fully.

Answer 24

yw - I'm glad I was able to help. :)

Answer 25

do you want me to give you a similar question to check if you have understood this properly?

Answer 26

I would love another! and or also can you help me on this one...

the gasoline gauge on a van initially read 1/3 full when 10 gallons were added to the tank the gauge read 3/4 full how many more gallons are needed to fill the tank?

Answer 27

lets leave the new question for later (you should post that as a new question).

I'll give another one similar to this one here as a test...

Answer 28

alright! I will do that :) thank you!

Answer 29

the number of cats I have is "two thirds" of my cats plus 9

how many cats do I have?

Answer 30

13?

Answer 31

no - remember - the first step is to work out how much of the total number of cats is represented by the 9

Answer 32

you are told that the total is "two thirds" of my cats plus 9

so the 9 must represent what fraction of the total?

Answer 33

remember "two thirds" have been accounted for - so what fraction remains?

Answer 34

6

Answer 35

not 6.

Answer 36

1/3

Answer 37

yes

Answer 38

so you now know that 1/3 of my total number of cats is 9 cats

Answer 39

so 1/3 of what number will give you 9?

Answer 40

27 :)

Answer 41

thats it! hope you are beginning to understand how to do these now?

Answer 42

I think so! thanks again! :)

Answer 43

yw :)