Question

A his herd of cows among his 4 sons he gave one son half the herd a second son one fourth of the herd a third son one fith of the herd and the fourth son 48 cows how many cows were in the herd originally

Answer 1

Let the total number of cows in the herd be represented by "x". Then, according to the problem:

The first son received half the herd, or (1/2)x cows.

The second son received one fourth of the herd, or (1/4)x cows.

The third son received one fifth of the herd, or (1/5)x cows.

The fourth son received 48 cows.

We can write an equation to represent the total number of cows in the herd:

(1/2)x + (1/4)x + (1/5)x + 48 = x

To solve for "x", we can start by simplifying the fractions:

5/10x + 2/10x + 2/10x + 48 = x

Combining like terms, we get:

9/10x + 48 = x

Subtracting 9/10x from both sides, we get:

48 = 1/10x

Multiplying both sides by 10, we get:

x = 480

Therefore, the original herd had 480 cows.