math - jake, Friday, December 7, 2007 at 2:06pm
How many cats are in a small room if in each of the four corners a cat is sitting, and opposite each cat there sits 3 cats, and at each cat's tail a cat is sitting?
Each corner = 1 + 3 + 4 = 8
4 corners in the room x 8 cats = ??
1+2 =3 x 4
There are only 3 cats sitting opposite each cat. There was one there already, so you would add two. One of those two is sitting by the cat's tail.
RETAKE! There are only 4 cats in that room.
this is less than a year older than me
To solve this problem, let's break it down step by step.
Step 1: Start with the four corners.
In each of the four corners, a cat is sitting. So, there are 4 cats in the corners.
Step 2: Move to opposite each cat.
For each cat in the corner, opposite to that cat there sit 3 cats. Since there are 4 cats in the corners, we have 4 x 3 = 12 cats opposite the corners.
Step 3: Move to each cat's tail.
At each cat's tail (including the ones in the corner and the ones opposite), another cat is sitting. Since we have 4 corners and 12 cats opposite, we have 4 + 12 = 16 cats at each corner's tail.
Step 4: Add up the total number of cats.
So, the total number of cats in the room would be the sum of cats in the corners, opposite each cat, and at each cat's tail. Therefore, the answer is 4 (corner cats) + 12 (opposite cats) + 16 (cats at each tail) = 32 cats.
Therefore, there are 32 cats in the small room according to the given arrangement.