A new animal hospital is planning to purchase a total of 36 cages for dogs, cats, and
rabbits. They want to purchase the same number of cages for dogs as for cats, but only
one-fourth as many cages for rabbits. How many of each cage should they buy?

Respuesta :

For simplicity’s sake:
D = dogs, C = cats, R = rabbits

Since the dogs and the cats are the same number, we can say C = D.

R = 1/4D

2D + 1/4D = 36

Combine like terms and get the same denominator

9/4D = 36

9D = 144

D = 16

Now we know that D is 16, so C must be 16 as well. That leaves us with 32 cages.

36 - 32 = 4 rabbit cages. To double check this, 1/4 of 16 does equal 4.

Final answer: 16 D, 16 C, 4 R