A pet hotel has an equal number of dogs and cats spending the night. If 8 cats are picked
up, twice as many dogs as cats remain. What was the original number of pets present for
the evening?
Im having a hard time understanding this question
If they started out with x of each, then you know that
x = 2(x-8)
No problem! Let's break down the question step by step.
1. "A pet hotel has an equal number of dogs and cats spending the night." This means that the initial number of dogs is the same as the initial number of cats. Let's represent the number of dogs and cats as "x".
2. "If 8 cats are picked up, twice as many dogs as cats remain." This statement tells us that after 8 cats are picked up, the number of dogs left is double the number of cats left. Since the initial number of dogs and cats is the same (x), we can write this as an equation: 2(x-8) = x.
Now, let's solve for x to find the original number of pets present for the evening:
2(x-8) = x (distribute 2)
2x - 16 = x (subtract x from both sides)
x - 16 = 0 (add 16 to both sides)
x = 16
Therefore, the original number of pets present for the evening was 16 cats and 16 dogs.