Asked by Ginny

A flock of geese on a pond was being observed continuously. At 1:00pm, 1/5 of the geese flew away. At 2:00pm, 1/8 of the geese that remained flew away. At 3:00pm, 3 times as many geese has had flown away at 1:00pm flew away, leaving 28 geese on the pond. At no other time did any geese arrive or fly away.

How would I set up the equation to find out how many flocks of geese were in the original flock?

Answers

Answered by oobleck
1:00 -- 1/5 gone, leaving 4/5
2:00 -- 4/5 * 1/8 = 1/10 flew, leaving 4/5 - 1/10 = 7/10
3:00 -- 3 * 1/5 = 3/5 gone, leaving 1/10
x/10 = 28
so the original flock was 280 geese
Trying to do all that in a single equation is possible, but would be very cumbersome. Good luck with that effort.
Answered by Ginny
Is there a different way to do it?
1:00 is 1/5 and that becomes 4/5
2:00 is 1/8 and that becomes 7/8
3:00 is 3x
The equation would equal to 28
Answered by oobleck
Your terminology is rather opaque.
And what do you mean when you finally say

The equation would equal to 28

what equation? An equation is never "equal" to anything.
Answered by Ginny
Then what would the equation be by using 28, 3x, 7/8, and 4/5
Answered by henry2,
Original flock = X geese.

1:00 PM : x - x/5 = 4x/5 remained.
2:00 PM: 4x/5 - 1/8 * 4x/5 = 4x/5 - 4x/40 = 32x/40 - 4x/40 = 7x/10 remained
3:00 PM: 7x/10 - 3x/5 = 7x/10 - 6x/10 = x/10 remained.

x/10 = 28.
X = 280 geese.

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