question about algebra.

Question

Lilly is feeding animals. for every squirrel she feeds them 1 apple, for every deer, she feeds 4 apples, for every rabbit 2 apples, for every bird 3 apples, and for every bear 6 apples. if she feeds 72 animals and used 244 apples, how many of each animal did she feed?

Answer 1

S=number of squirrels fed

D=number of deers fed

R=number of rabbits fed

A=number of birds fed

B=number of bears fed

equation 1: S+D+R+A+B=72

equations 2: S+4D+2R+3A+6B=244

You have 5 unknowns and only 2 equations.

To get a unique solution you need 3 more equations, which aren't in the problem

subtract equation 1 from 2 to get

3D+R+2A+5B = 172

Let D, R and A each = 1, then 5B=166. Assuming you want whole numbers for a solution,

then D, R, and A cannot all be = 1.

Let D and A each =1 but R=2, then 5B=165 and B=33

Plug into the first equation, then S+1+2+1+33=72 and S = 35

S=35, D=1, R=2, A=1, B=33 is just one solution, among many

If this is just an "algebra 1" question, maybe that's all you want, just finding one solution among many

If you want all solutions, you could get them using more advanced linear or matrix algebra