Question

An animal shelter spends $5.50 per day to care for each cat and $8.00 per day to care for each dog. Angel noticed that the shelter spent $54.00 caring for cats and dogs on Monday. Angel found a record showing that there were a total of 8 cats and dogs on monday. How many cats were at the shelter on Monday?

Answer 1

Answer: there were 4 cats at the shelter on Monday.

Step-by-step explanation:

Let x represent the number of cats at the shelter on Monday.

Let y represent the number of dogs at the shelter on Monday.

Angel found a record showing that there were a total of 8 cats and dogs on monday. This means that

x + y = 8

The animal shelter spends $5.50 per day to care for each cat and $8.00 per day to care for each dog. Angel noticed that the shelter spent $54.00 caring for cats and dogs on Monday. This means that

5.5x + 8y = 54- - - - - - - - - - - - -1

Substituting x = 8 - y into equation 1, it becomes

5.5(8 - y) + 8y = 54

44 - 5.5y + 8y = 54

- 5.5y + 8y = 54 - 44

2.5y = 10

y = 10/2.5

y = 4

x = 8 - y = 8 - 4

x = 4