Question

Phil has a farm with some hens and pigs. He counted 18 heads and 56 legs. Find the number of hens on the farm.

• A. 8
• B. 10
• C. 24
• D. 20

Answer 1

The correct option is A 8

Number of heads = 18
Number of legs = 56

Let the number of hens be h and the number of pigs be p.
Both hens and pigs have one head.
h + p = 18 ...... equation (1)

A hen has 2 legs, while a pig has 4 legs.
2h + 4p = 56 ........ equation (2)

Comparing both equations:
First, we will multiply equation (1) with (2), we get:
2h + 2p = 36 ......... equation (3)

Subtracting equation (3) from (2), we get:p = 10
Putting the value of p in equation (1), we get the number of hens as 8 (18 – 10). Thus, there are 8 hens and 10 pigs on Phil's farm.