Egg 'n bacon

[HS Thomas]

Jessica raises pot-bellied pigs and ostriches.
Among her animals she has 17 heads and 56 legs.
How many pigs and ostriches does she have ?
regards

[Jason Menard]

6 ostriches and 11 pigs.
The Math:
x = # of ostrich legs, x/2 = # of ostriches
y = # of pig legs, y/4 = # of pigs
x + y = 56
x/2 + y/4 = 17
y = 56 - x
x/2 + (56 - x)/4 = 17
4(x/2 + (56 - x)/4) = 4 * 17
2x + 56 - x = 68
x = 12
y = 56 - 12 = 44
x/2 = 6
y/4 = 11
[ September 10, 2003: Message edited by: Jason Menard ]

[HS Thomas]

Congrats.
I did it the usual (longer) way using math.
Here is a solution that uses pure logic.
Each animal has two hind legs, so 17 heads means 34 hind legs total.
The remaining 22 legs must be the front legs of 11 four-legged pigs.
Therefore 11 heads belong to the pigs and the remaining 6 heads belong to ostriches.
regards

[Bert Bates]

How do you count cows in a pasture?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Count their legs and divide by four.