Answer:
(a) 25
(b) $4816
Step-by-step explanation:
Let's say the starting amount of ducks is d, and the starting amount of chickens is c. Since there are only ducks and chickens, we can say that d + c= 455.
Next, the farmer sells 2/5 of the ducks, so we subtract 2/5 of the ducks so that the ending duck amount is d - (2/5)d = (3/5) d
After that, the farmer buys another 104 chickens, so we add 104 chickens to the current amount of chickens to get the ending chicken number as 104+c
Given the ending duck and chicken count, we can say that the ending farm animal count (we can represent this as a) is (3/5)d + 104 + c = a
The number of ducks is 2/3 the total number of animals at the end, so (3/5)d = (2/3)a
Let's list our equations out so it is easier to solve:
d+c = 455
(3/5)d + 104 + c = a
(3/5)d = (2/3)a
We have three equations and need to solve for three variables. One common variable in all three equations is d, so it might help if we put everything in terms of d.
Starting with d+c=455, if we subtract d from both sides, we get c=455-d. We can substitute this in the second equation to get
(3/5)d + 104 + 455 - d = a
-(2/5)d + 559 = a
(3/5)d = (2/3)a
Next, we can substitute for a. If we multiply both sides by 3 and then divide by 2 in (3/5)d = (2/3)a , we get
(9/10)d = a
Substitute that in to the second equation to get
-(2/5)d + 559 = (9/10) d
-(4/10)d + 559 = (9/10) d
add (4/10)d to both sides to isolate the variable and its coefficient
(13/10)d = 559
multiply both sides by (10/13) to isolate the coefficient
d = 430
Therefore, the starting number of ducks is 430 and the starting amount of chickens is 455-430 = 25
For (b), 2/5ths of the ducks are sold, so this is (430) * (2/5) = 172. Each duck is sold for 28 dollars, so this is 172*28=$4816 as the total price
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