Question

At the veterinarian's office Terry learned that her dog weighed four times as much as her cat together the pets weigh 40 lb how much did the dog weigh

Answer 1

32 lbs

Explanation:

To solve this problem, we need to set up a mathematical equation based on the situation we are given. A mathematical equation states that the expressions on either side of an equal sign are equal to one another, and often contains a variable to represent an unknown value.

In this question, we can use the variable x to represent the weight of Terry's cat. Since her dog weighs four times as much as her cat, its weight can be represented by 4x. Together, they weigh 40 lbs, so we can write the equation x + 4x = 40 to represent this.

Now we can solve for the value of x.

• x + 4x = 40
• 5x = 40
• x = 8

Terry's cat weighs 8 lbs. Her dog weighs four times as much:

• 4x = 4(8) = 32

Terry's dog weighs 32 lbs.

We can check our work by adding up the individual weights of each pet and making sure that it adds up to 40 lbs:

• 8 (weight of cat) + 32 (weight of dog) = 40