Question

Your friend has owned a dog for 9 years. This is one year less than twice as long as he has owned a cat. How long has your friend owned a cat?

Answer 1

your friend has owned a cat for 17 years, because 9 times 2 subtracted by 1 equals 17

Answer 2

He has owned a cat for 5 years.

Explanation:

He has owned a dog for 9 years, and this time is one year less than twice as long as he has owned a cat.

So, we can express this like:

`9=2x-1`

Solving for
`x`:

`9+1=2x\\x=(10)/(2)=5`

Therefore, he has owned a cat for 5 years.