Question 1150579:  A farmer raises chickens and cows. he has a total of 34 animals in his 
barnyard.  His six year old son came in one day all excited saying,"Daddy, 
Daddy, did you know all of your animals have a total of 110 legs.  How many 
chickens and how many cows does the farmer have> 
 Answer by Edwin McCravy(20064)      (Show Source): 
You can  put this solution on YOUR website! a farmer raises chickens and cows. he has a total of 34 animals in his  
barnyard. his six year old son came in one day all excited saying,"Daddy, 
daddy, did you know all of your animals have a total of 110 legs. 
Without using algebra:
If they were all chickens, there would be twice as many legs as heads or 68
legs.  So all the extra legs, which is 110-68=42 extra legs, belong to the
cows.  So since a cow has 2 extra legs that a chicken doesn't have, the number
of cows is half of 42 or 21. So the number of chickens is 34-21 or 13.
Using algebra:
Let x = the number of chickens and y = the number of cows.
CHICKENS + COWS = 34 ANIMALS
CHICKEN LEGS + COW LEGS = 110
 x +  y =  34
2x + 4y = 110
Solve that system and get the same answer.
Edwin  
 
  | 
 
  
 
 |   
 
 |