at the zoo there were 3 times as many monkeys as lions Tom c

at the zoo, there were 3 times as many monkeys as lions. Tom counted a total of 24 monkeys and lions. How many monkeys were there?

Solution

this is a word problem that you will solve from two equations.

First lets assign some variables

L - number of lions
M - number of monkeys

Now lets determine your two equations\'

1. there are 3 times as many monkeys as lions

3L = M (pretty much says that for each lion there are 3 monkeys so we would need to multiply the number lions by 3 to get the number of monkeys)

2. There are a total of 24 monkeys and lions

M + L = 24

Now from eqn 1 we have M in terms of L so we could substitute in 3L for M in equation 2 and then solve equation 2 for L

M + L = 24
3L + L = 24 (M = 3L)
4L = 24
L = 24/4
L = 6

Now that you have solved for L you can determine M from equation 1

M = 3L
M = 3*6 (using L from above)
M = 18

Now to verify that you did indeed get the right answer, substitute in L and M into equation 2

M + L = 24
18 + 6 = 24
24 = 24 (correct)

So your answer would be there are 18 monkeys