Old MacDonald raises chicken and sheep on his farm. His livestock is a total of 55 heads and 142 legs among them(not counting the farmer). How many chickens and sheep does he have?

Answer 1

Let the number of chickens be x and the number of sheep be y.

According to the problem, the total number of heads is 55:

x + y = 55

The total number of legs is 142:

2x + 4y = 142

Now, we can solve the system of equations to find the values of x and y:

From the first equation, we can express x in terms of y:

x = 55 - y

Substitute x in the second equation:

2(55 - y) + 4y = 142
110 - 2y + 4y = 142
2y = 32
y = 16

Now, substitute y back in x = 55 - y:

x = 55 - 16
x = 39

Old MacDonald has 39 chickens and 16 sheep on his farm.