Quandaries and Queries
  

 

My name is Markequetta. I was asked a question by a friend who refuses to give the right answer to a question that I answered wrong. So if you can help me that would be great! The level of my question is secondary I believe.

Question:

Cows cost: $10
Chickens cost: $0.50
Pigs cost: $3

You have to buy 100 animals and spend $100, so how many cows, chickens, and pigs do you have on your farm?
 

 

Hi Markequetta,

If you buy 5 cows, 94 chickens and 1 pig, you will have 100 animals for $50 + $47 + $3 = $100, and you can check that this is the only solution in integers of the system x + y + z = 100, 10x + y/2 + 3z = 100, where x is the number of cows, y is the number of chickens and z is the number of pigs.

However, I don't think that this is the answer to the question. The question is

"You have to buy 100 animals and spend $100, so how many cows, chickens, and pigs do you have on your farm?"

If you have to buy them, you don't have already, do you? So I think that the right
answer is zero.

Claude