Question

Callie has a new kitten. They can weigh 3 pounds less than half the weight of Callie‘s cat. Together the cat and kitten weigh 18 pounds. Find a system of equations that can be used to find the weight of each animal

Answer 1

The weight of cat is 14 pounds and the weight of kitten is 4 pounds.

Explanation:

Given:

Callie has a new kitten. It can weigh 3 pounds less than half the weight of Callie‘s cat. Together the cat and kitten weigh 18 pounds.

Now, to find the weight of each animal:

Let the cat's weight be
`x.`

And the kitten weight =
`(x)/(2) -3`

Total weight of cat and kitten = 18 pounds.

Now, to set an equation to get the weight of each animal:

`(x)+((x)/(2)-3)=18`

`x+(x)/(2) -3=18`

`(2x+x-6)/(2) =18`

`(3x-6)/(2) =18`

Multiplying both sides by 2 we get:

`3x-6=36`

Adding both sides by 6 we get:

`3x=42`

Dividing both sides by 3 we get:

`x=14\ pounds.`

The weight of cat = 14 pounds.

Substituting the value of
`x` to get the kitten's weight:

`(x)/(2) -3\\\\=(14)/(2)-3\\\\=7-3\\\\=4.`

The kitten's weight = 4 pounds.

Therefore, the weight of cat is 14 pounds and the weight of kitten is 4 pounds.