A baby calf weighs 150 pounds at birth and gains 2 lbs each day. How many days to get to 224lbs? Write and solve and equation using “d” days for how old he is at 224 pounds.

Answer 1

To determine how many days it takes for the baby calf to reach 224 pounds, we first need to establish an equation based on the information given.

1. The starting weight of the calf at birth is 150 pounds.
2. The calf gains 2 pounds each day (let's represent days as \(d\)).

We can express the calf's weight after \(d\) days with the following equation:

\[ \text{Weight after } d \text{ days} = 150 \text{ pounds} + 2 \text{ pounds/day} \times d \]

We want to find out when this weight equals 224 pounds. Therefore, we set up the equation:

\[ 150 + 2d = 224 \]

Next, we solve for \(d\):

1. Subtract 150 from both sides:

\[ 2d = 224 - 150 \] \[ 2d = 74 \]

2. Divide both sides by 2:

\[ d = \frac{74}{2} \] \[ d = 37 \]

Thus, it will take 37 days for the baby calf to weigh 224 pounds.