SOLUTION: A farmer bought a number of pigs for $200. However, 4 of them died before he could sell the rest at a profit of 7 per pig. His total profit was $72. How many pigs did he originally
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Question 1139187: A farmer bought a number of pigs for $200. However, 4 of them died before he could sell the rest at a profit of 7 per pig. His total profit was $72. How many pigs did he originally buy?
Let n = # of pigs originally bought.
Then you have this equation from the condition
- = 7, or
- = 7.
Multiply both sides by n*(n-4), simplify and solve for n
272n - 200*(n-4) = 7n*(n-4)
72n + 800 = 7n^2 - 28n
7n^2 - 100n - 800 = 0
n = = .
The solution to the problem is the positive integer n = = = 20.
ANSWER. There were 20 pigs originally.
CHECK. - = 17 - 10 = 7 dollars profit for each of 16 sold pigs. ! Correct !
