SOLUTION: An animal shelter spends $1.50 per day to care for each bird and $7.00 per day to care for each cat. Hailey noticed that the shelter spent $74.50 caring for birds and cats on Frida

Question 1012773: An animal shelter spends $1.50 per day to care for each bird and $7.00 per day to care for each cat. Hailey noticed that the shelter spent $74.50 caring for birds and cats on Friday. Hailey found a record showing that there were a total of 24 birds and cats on Friday. How many birds were at the shelter on Friday?
Found 2 solutions by fractalier, josmiceli:
Answer by fractalier(6550) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Call the number of birds and cats, b and c. Then we can write
1.50b + 7c = 74.50 and
b + c = 24
Let's multiply the second one by 7 and subtract from the first one...
1.50b + 7c = 74.50
-(7b + 7c = 168)
---------------------
-5.5b = -93.50
and
b = 17 birds
c = 24 - 17 = 7 cats
Answer by josmiceli(19441) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Let = number of birds at shelter on friday
Let = number of cats at shelter on friday
-------------------
(1)
(2)
---------------------
(2)
(2)
Multiply both sides of (1) by
and subtract (1) from (2)
-------------------------
(2)
(1)
----------------------

and
(1)
(1)
(1)
There were 17 birds at the shelter on friday
check:
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
OK
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