Question

Jason can see 12 animals from his window. But he leaned in too far, so now he has fallen. From the floor, he can see 40 feet. Some of the animals are chickens, and some are pigs. Find how many pigs and how many chickens are there.

a) 5 pigs and 7 chickens
b) 8 pigs and 4 chickens
c) 4 pigs and 8 chickens
d) 7 pigs and 5 chickens

Answer 1

By setting up a system of equations based on the number of animals (12) and the total number of feet (40), we found that there are 4 chickens and 8 pigs Jason can see from his window.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question asks us to determine the number of pigs and chickens that Jason can see from his window, knowing that he can see a total of 12 animals. This is a classic algebra problem often encountered in middle school math, involving systems of equations. Since chickens have 2 feet and pigs have 4 feet, we can use these facts to form two equations based on the number of animals and the total number of feet.

Let's assume that the number of chickens is 'c' and the number of pigs is 'p'. We can create the following equations:

1. The total number of animals is 12: c + p = 12
2. The total number of feet seen from the floor (which is 40 feet): 2c + 4p = 40

Now, we solve this system of equations. We can use the substitution or elimination method. Let's go with elimination:

• Multiply the first equation by 2 to align the coefficients of the 'c' term: 2c + 2p = 24
• Now we have two equations with aligned 'c' coefficients:
• 2c + 2p = 24
• 2c + 4p = 40
• Subtract the first from the second: (2c + 4p) - (2c + 2p) = 40 - 24, which simplifies to:
• 2p = 16
• Divide by 2: p = 8
• Now we use the value of 'p' to find 'c' in the first original equation:
• c + 8 = 12
• c = 4

Therefore, there are 4 chickens and 8 pigs.