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Question 741637: A police academy is training 14 new recruits. Some are working dogs and others are police officers. There are 38 legs in all. How many of each type of recruit are there
Answer by rapaljer(4671)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! Let X=number of police officers (each with 2 legs)
y= number of dogs (with 4 legs each)
The equation for recruits is
x+y=14
The equation of legs is
2x+4y=38 which can be reduced to x+2y=19
Multiply first equation by -1:
-x - y = -14
x +2y = 19
Add these equations together, and you get
y= 5 dogs
Since x+y=14, 5 dogs means there are 9 police, with legs = 20 for dogs, 18 for police for a total of 38 legs. It checks.
Dr. Robert J. Rapalje, Retired
Seminole State College of Florida
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