Cows have 4 legs, chickens have 2 legs, so

cows ---x , chickens ---- y
4x + 2y = 148
2x + y = 74
y = 74 - 2x

Could you tell me where the 74 come from I still do not understand it

well, it has to be 4 x + 2 y = some number of legs :)

if it is 148
then
4 x + 2 y = 148
divide that equation by 2
2 x + 1 y = 74 sure enough, same thing
subtract 2 x from both sides
y = 74 - 2 x
still the same
In other words for any chosen number of legs, like 148, those equations are all valid and the same.

The number 74 comes from the given information in the problem. The equations that are provided represent the number of legs that cows and chickens have in total, and the total number of legs is 148.

Since cows have 4 legs and chickens have 2 legs, we can represent the total number of legs using the variables 'x' and 'y' as follows:

For cows: 4x (since each cow has 4 legs, multiplied by the number of cows, represented by 'x').
For chickens: 2y (since each chicken has 2 legs, multiplied by the number of chickens, represented by 'y').

The given equation, 4x + 2y = 148, is a representation of the total number of legs. We are trying to find the values of 'x' and 'y' that satisfy this equation.

The second equation, 2x + y = 74, represents the total number of animals, cows and chickens combined. We are given that the total number of animals is 74.

So, in summary, the number 74 comes from the total number of animals (cows and chickens) given in the problem.

Certainly! Let's break down the equation and understand how we arrived at the number 74.

We are given two pieces of information: cows have 4 legs and chickens have 2 legs. We want to determine the number of cows and chickens in a group of animals. Let's represent the number of cows as "x" and the number of chickens as "y".

The first equation we have is 4x + 2y = 148. This equation represents the total number of legs in the group. The number of legs from the cows is 4x (as each cow has 4 legs), and the number of legs from the chickens is 2y (as each chicken has 2 legs). The total number of legs in the group is given as 148.

Now, let's move on to the second equation, which is 2x + y = 74. This equation represents the total number of animals in the group. The number of cows is represented by "x," and the number of chickens is represented by "y." The total number of animals in the group is given as 74.

So, we can conclude that the number 74 comes from the fact that the total number of animals in the group is 74, as mentioned in the second equation.