Question

A nature museum has 2008 specimens of early birds, some with 222 wings and some with 444 wings. The specimens have a total of 40384 wings.How many specimens are there with each number of wings?

Answer 1

Let's assume

number of birds with 2 wings is x

number of birds with 4 wings is y

A nature museum has 2008 specimens of early birds

so,

$x+y=2008$

Total of wings of 2 wings bird =2x

Total of wings of 4 wings bird =4y

The specimens have a total of 4384 wings

so, we get

$2x+4y=4384$

we can divide both sides by 2

$x+2y=2192$

so, we get system of equations as

$x+y=2008$

$x+2y=2192$

we can solve for x and y

We can subtract both equations

$2008-y+2y=2192$

$y=184$

$x=2008-184$

$x=1824$

$y=184,\:x=1824$

so,

number of birds with 2 wings is 1824

number of birds with 4 wings is 184.............Answer