Question

Thinking—Level 2 Get Started! Exit A farm raises cows and chickens. The farmer has a total of 40 animals. One day he counts the legs of all his animals and realizes he has a total of 118 legs. How many chickens does the farmer have?

Answer 1

21 pieces of chickens.

Explanation:

Given:

The farmer has a total of 40 animals. ( cows and chicken )

He counts the legs of all his animals and realizes he has a total of 118 legs.

Question asked:

How many chickens does the farmer have ?

Solution:

Let number of chickens =
`x`

Then number of cows =
`40-x`

Now, as here given that total number of legs are 118 of all the animals, and as we know that a chicken has two legs and cow has four legs, hence the equation will be :

Total number of legs = Number of legs having chickens + Number of legs having cows

`118 = 2x+4(40-x)\\118=2x+160-4x`

`118=-2x+160`

Subtracting both sides by 160

`-42=-2x`

By adding both sides by minus

`42 = 2x\\`

By dividing both sides by 2

`x =21`

Hence, farmer have 21 pieces of chickens.