Santa is working with his helpers. He counts 89 heads and 230 feet. How many reindeer and elves are there not including him.
reindeer have 4 feet
elves have 2
this would make sense if I was finding one not both!
Please help me
r + e = 89 ... they each have one head
4 r + 2 e = 230 ... 4 feet for reindeer and 2 feet for elves
multiply 1st eqn by 2 , and subtract from 2nd eqn ... this eliminates e
solve for r , then substitute back to find e
wait
4(2)=8
8+2e=230
I'm lost baby steps plz
To solve this problem, we need to break it down into equations based on the given information:
Let's assume there are 'r' reindeer and 'e' elves (not including Santa) in total.
1. Based on the given information, we can set up an equation for the number of heads: r + e = 89.
2. Similarly, we can set up another equation for the total number of feet: 4r + 2e = 230.
Now we have a system of two equations. We can solve them simultaneously to find the values of 'r' and 'e'.
There are several ways to solve this system of equations, but I will use the substitution method.
Let's solve the first equation for 'r':
r = 89 - e
Substitute this value of 'r' into the second equation:
4(89 - e) + 2e = 230
Simplify the equation:
356 - 4e + 2e = 230
356 - 2e = 230
-2e = 230 - 356
-2e = -126
e = (-126) / -2
e = 63
Now substitute the value of 'e' into the first equation to find 'r':
r = 89 - 63
r = 26
Therefore, there are 26 reindeer and 63 elves, not including Santa.