Question

There are 17 animals in the barn. Some are chickens and some are cows. There are 50 legs in all. How many of each animals are there?

Answer 1

There are 9 Chickens and 8 Cows.

Explanation:

Answer 2

Explanation:

We can set up a system of equations

There are 17 animals:

I will use C for chickens, M for cows

`C + M = 17`

There are 50 legs in total. Chickens have two legs, cows have 4 legs, so

`2C + 4M = 50`

We can solve for either C or M in the top equation and substitute it below. Either choice works.

`C = 17 - M\\2(17-M) + 4M = 50\\34 - 2M + 4M = 50\\2M = 16\\M = 8\\\\M = 17-C\\2C + 4(17-C) = 50\\2C + 68 - 4C = 50\\-2C = -18\\C = 9`

There are 9 Chickens and 8 Cows.