Question

i know how to set up the equations but i don't know how to actually solve the equation to this situation: Farmer Green goes into his barn(where he only keeps horses and chickens) and notices that he has 38 animals in there. he also notices that there are 104 legs among his animals. how many of each animal does farmer green have in the barn?
can someone help me please
the equations i used are- 4h+2c=104 and h+c=38

Answer 1

What equation do you have?

Answer 2

You're ahead of the game, most students have the most difficulty setting up the equation. Solving is simply the application of algebra. Did you use two variables or one? It can be set up either way.

Answer 3

Do you want to use two variable, or just one??

Answer 4

Are you a farmer?

Answer 5

no

Answer 6

Do you know how many legs a horse has? and a chicken ?

Answer 7

yes a horse has 4 legs and a chicken has two legs

Answer 8

O.K. we can now roll. I prefer to use just a single variable, is that O.K. with you?

Answer 9

sure

Answer 10

Let X equal the number of horses , then we can also state:
Let 38 - X equal the number of chickens. Now we bring in the "legs"
2(38-X) + 4X = 104 Do you see why this truw?

Answer 11

in plain speak, chicken has 2 legs-------2(38-x) is the number of chicken legs
Horse has 4 legs .-------4X is number of horse legs.
Problem states there is 104 total legs.

Answer 12

So the problem boils down to this:
76-2X + 4X = 104 Now it is just algebra, a mechanical process. Can you take it from here?

Answer 13

yeah i can take it from here thank you for all the help

Answer 14

No problem, you have a nice evening and good luck with your studies.