Question

together,sarah's two cats have the same mass as her dog,11 kg.the mass of one cat is 1500 g greater than the mass of the other. what are the masses of the two cats?

Answer 1

let (a) be the first cat
let (b) be the second cat
a +b=11kg-----(1)
a=b+1500g⇒(1.5 kg)-------(2)
so now u have a system of two unknowns
a=11-b
substitute a in (2)
11-b=b+1.5
11-1.5=2b
2b=9.5
b=9.5/2=4.75
subs. b in (1)
a+b=11
a+4.75=11
a=11-4.75=6.25
so cat (a) is 6.25 kg
and (b) is 4.75 kg
hope I helped