Mike bought 10 rabbits to add to the ones he already had. A week later, one-eighth of his rabbits escaped. There were now only 35 rabbits left. How many did he

Question

how many did he start with?

Answer 1

Mariella, the 35 rabbits are 7/8 of what he had, right? This means he has 7 parts of 8 he started with. 

 

If we divide 35/7 = 5, so each part is 5 rabbits. If he started with 8 parts, he had 8(5) = 40 rabbits.

 

This is after he added 10, so he had 40 - 10 = 30 rabbits at the very beginning.

Answer 2

Let x = the number of rabbits that Mike began with

 

If he bought 10, then he now has (x + 10)

 

If 1/8 of his rabbits escaped a week later, then he has 7/8 remaining

 

We know from the problem that

 

7/8(x + 10) = 35

 

If we multiply both sides by 8, we have

 

7(x + 10) = 280

 

7x + 70 = 280

 

7x = 210

 

x = 30

 

Mike originally had 30 rabbits