a shelter has t poodles, 5 beagles, and 12 retrievers. The other dogs are mixed breed. There are 40 dogs. How many are mixed breed?

Answer 1

Because you do not know the number of poodles that the shelter has, your answer for the number of mixed breed dogs will contain the variable t. First you would set up an equation showing the number of each type of dog in the shelter. I will use m for mixed breed.

40 = t + 5 + 12 + m

Now from there, you would solve for m.

40 = t + 17 + m

40 - t - 17 = m

23 - t = m

So the number of mixed breed dogs in the shelter is 23 minus the number of poodles, t.