A horse trainer has a bag of pink sugar mints for horse treats. She needs five treats per training session. The bag holds 42 mints. Which equation shows the number of horses that she can train and is a solution a viable option?

Question

A. 5h = 42, so h = 8.4 horses, which is not viable.
B. h - 5 = 42 and h = 47, which is not viable
C. h/5 = 42 and h = 210, which is not viable.
D. 5h = 42, so h = 8.4 horses, which is viable.

Answer 1

The correct option to consider is option A, which states:

A. 5h = 42, so h = 8.4 horses, which is not viable.

Here's the reasoning:

• The equation 5h = 42 correctly represents the situation, where \(h\) is the number of horses that can be trained and 5 is the number of treats needed per horse.

• Solving for \(h\), we have: \[ h = \frac{42}{5} = 8.4 \]

Since \(h\) must be a whole number (you can't train a fraction of a horse), 8.4 is not a viable option. Thus, the solution does indicate that the number of horses she can train (which must be an integer) is not possible at 8.4.

The other options either do not set up the equation correctly or result in answers that don't align with the scenario presented. Hence option A effectively describes the situation accurately and concludes that training fractions of horses is not viable.