The local state fair had a building that housed both chickens and pigmy goats. One of the 4-H participants decided to create a puzzle for the others. He counted 224 legs belonging
To 72 animals. How many pigmy goats and how many chickens were there in the building?
A)50 pygmy goats and 24 chickens
B)40 pygmy goats and 32 chickens
C)56 pygmy goats and 4 chickens
D)32 pygmy goats and 32 chickens

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Let x be the number of chickens and y be the number of pygmy goats. Each chicken has 2 legs and each pygmy goat has 4 legs. We can set up the system of equations:
x + y = 72 (total number of animals)
2x + 4y = 224 (total number of legs)
Solving for x and y, we get x = 32 and y = 40. Therefore, there were 32 chickens and 40 pygmy goats in the building.

The Local State Fair Had a Building That Housed Both