Question

Vivienne has 5 pets, all of which are either birds or cats. Her pets have a total of 14 legs. Choose the system of equations that can be solved to find the number of birds that Vivienne owns, b, and the number of cats that Vivienne owns, e.

Answer 1

Answer:

the system of equations is

b + e = 5

2b + 4e = 14

and the solved system gets you to the conclusion that vivienne has 3 birds and 2 cats

Step-by-step explanation:

b is the amount of birds and e is the amount of cats so adding them together would give you 5, the total amount of pets. so this is the first equation:

b + e = 5

next, we know that birds have two legs and cats have 4, so those respective numbers times the amount of each animal will give you 14, the amount of legs. so the equation would be:

2b + 4e = 14

so the system of equations would be

b + e = 5

2b + 4e = 14

i wasnt sure if you also needed to solve it but here it is solved

b = 5 - e

2(5 - e) + 4e = 14

10 - 2e + 4e = 14

10 + 2e = 14

2e = 4

e = 2

so using subsitution you would get b by using the value of e in the first equation.

b = 5 - e

b = 5 - 2

b = 3

so vivienne has 3 birds and 2 cats.