document.write( "Question 499621: doug dave and don are counting ducks down by the pond they are havinf a contest to see who can spot the most ducks. doug counts twice as many as dave. dave counts twice as many as don. together they spotted a total of 42 ducks. how many ducks did each boy spot \n" ); document.write( "
Algebra.Com's Answer #337809 by Earlsdon(6294) ![]() You can put this solution on YOUR website! Let a = Doug's count of ducks, b = Dave's count, and c = Don's count. \n" ); document.write( "a = 2b \"Doug counts twice as many as Dave.\" \n" ); document.write( "b = 2c \"Dave counts twice as many as Don.\" \n" ); document.write( "a+b+c = 42 \"\"Together they spotted a total of 42 ducks.\" \n" ); document.write( "Rewrite the first equation: \n" ); document.write( "a = 2b Replace b = 2c to get: \n" ); document.write( "a = 2(2c) \n" ); document.write( "a = 4c Now rewrite the second equation: \n" ); document.write( "a+b+c = 42 Substitute a = 4c and b = 2c. \n" ); document.write( "4c+2c+c = 42 Simplify. \n" ); document.write( "7c = 42 Divide by 7. \n" ); document.write( "c = 6 and... \n" ); document.write( "b = 2(6) \n" ); document.write( "b = 12 and... \n" ); document.write( "a = 4c \n" ); document.write( "a = 4(6) \n" ); document.write( "a = 24. \n" ); document.write( "Doug spotted 24 ducks. \n" ); document.write( "Dave spotted 12 ducks. \n" ); document.write( "Don spotted 6 ducks. \n" ); document.write( " |