Too Many Characters

Question

Each contestant submitted a photograph of his or her pet featuring the pet's nose, along with an entrance fee of $1.00. Half of the photographs submitted were pictures of cats, a quarter of the photographs received were pictures of dogs, 1/8 of were pictures of horses, 1/16 were pictures of rabbits, and 13 were gerbils. Only 1/32 of the photos were of birds. How many photos of pets were entered in the contest?

Answer 1

the total of the fractions is 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16 + 1/32 = (16+8+4+2+1)/32 = 31/32

so 1/32 represents the 13 gerbils. Therefore 1/32 * X = 13 where x is the total # of pets

X = 13*32 = 416

208 <-- cats

104 <dogs

52 <-- horses

26 <-- rabbits

13 <-- birds

13 <-- gerbils