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"These are all the hens we have left", said the butcher to the 3 women who were shopping in the market. "Together they weigh 20 pounds, and the little bird sells for 2 cents a pound more than the big bird."
Mrs. Davis bought the little one for 82 cents, and Mrs. Miller paid 2 dollars and 96 cents for the big hen.
Can you tell Mrs. Johnson how many pounds the big hen weighs?
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The Big Hen Weighs 16 pounds
This one seems really easy but I’m stumped for a simple way of solving it without estimating and refining. I could bring in the linear algebra but I’m looking for a “finger math” method.
The big hen weighs 16 pounds, assuming half penny prices were in existence
I think is 16 pounds. Explanation:
Price( WHeavy)= 296 cents
(Price+2)(WThin)= 82 cents
WHeavy + WThin= 20 pounds
If all the hens cost the same this will result:
Price*WHeavy=296
Price*Wthin=82
so: WHeavy/Wthin=296/82–> 3,60 so the heavy would be almost be 4 times heavier than the thin one, so in the original problems this relationship increased:
so the weight relationship its at least 4
and add up 20 :
substitute in the original equations:
4;16 4 in 20,5 cents 16 in 18,5 cents
I could not do it by deduction only by induction, so i found it hard, also I assume that there were only two hens, but maybe there could be more. WoW
The big hen weighs 16 lbs (at 18.5 cents/lb). Therefore, the small hen weighs 4 lbs (at 20.5 cents/lb or 2 cents more per pound than the big bird).
It doesn’t say there are only 2 birds, so you could calculate it for 3 birds (or more) as well.
jajajaja, I think i need some sugar, or maybe i am just not awake enogh jajajaja, three equations three variables jajajaja:
here its the cuadratic expression:
10Price(squared)-169Price -296= 0 –>Price= 18,5
Pp=296/18,5–>16 I think I must quit Splenda and go back to sugar jajajaja
I’m probably way off, but I have it weighing about 16 lbs…
honestly though, I am not sure how many hens are there…..it isnt specified. So my answer is NO, i cannot tell her anything……but thats just me……
4 equations, 4 unknowns
WL=weight of little hen
WB=weight of big hen
CL=cost/pound of little hen
CB=cost/pound of big hen
WL+WY=20
CL=CB+.02
WL*CL=.82
WB*CB=2.96
Big hen weighs 16 pounds
Little hen weighs 4 pounds
Little hen costs $.205/pound
big hen costs $.185/pound
16 lbs.
That’s a big hen. I guess the picture represents what the hen would look like.
I thought this was very challenging.
the answer we were looking for is: Big Hen= 16 pounds (Although as Jason & CJmed note, it doesn’t say there are only 2 birds)
Shawn, and Suineg, provide some very helpful explanations.
These are so much easier when the answers are posted.