A small farm has ducks and goats. There are 11 animals in all and 34 legs in all (wings don't count!). How many goats does the farm have? How many ducks?

1 Answer

5 ducks, 6 goats

Explanation:

We have some Goats and some Ducks. There are eleven animals in all:

G+D=11

Goats have 4 legs and Ducks 2. There are 34 legs altogether:

4G+2D=34

I'm going solve the first equation for G in terms of D, then substitute in:

G=11-D

4(11-D)+2D=34

and now solve for D:

44-4D+2D=34

2D=10

color(blue)(ul(bar(abs(color(black)(D=5))))

which will mean that color(blue)(ul(bar(abs(color(black)(G=6)))):

G+D=11

G+5=11=>G=6

And now let's check our leg count:

4G+2D=34

4(6)+2(5)=34

24+10=34

34=34color(white)(000)color(green)sqrt