in a recent survey 5/8 of the siamese cats said that they didn't mind having to lap up from a water bowl, but another 3/16 admitted they would have preferred to use a straw instead. if 39 of the siamese cats gave one of these two answers, how many were surveyed in total?
Let's solve the problem step by step:
First, we need to find the total number of cats that didn't mind lapping up from a water bowl (5/8 of the total). We know that 39 cats gave one of the two answers, so we can set up the equation:
(5/8) * Total = 39
To get rid of the fraction, multiply both sides of the equation by 8:
5 * Total = 312
Divide both sides of the equation by 5:
Total = 312 / 5 = 62.4
Since we cannot have a fraction of a cat, round this number up to the nearest whole number: 63.
Now, let's find the number of cats that preferred to use a straw instead. We are given that 3/16 of the cats had this preference. So, we can set up another equation:
(3/16) * Total = 39
To get rid of the fraction, multiply both sides of the equation by 16:
3 * Total = 624
Divide both sides of the equation by 3:
Total = 624 / 3 = 208
Therefore, a total of 208 cats were surveyed.
the answer was incorrect
Apologies for the incorrect answer. Let's try solving the problem again:
Let's assume the total number of Siamese cats surveyed is x.
From the given information, we know that 5/8 of the cats said they didn't mind lapping up from a water bowl. Therefore, the number of cats who didn't mind is (5/8) * x.
From the same survey, 3/16 of the cats admitted they would have preferred to use a straw instead. So, the number of cats who preferred using a straw is (3/16) * x.
According to the problem, the total number of cats who gave one of these two answers is 39. Therefore, we can set up the equation:
(5/8) * x + (3/16) * x = 39
To combine the fractions, we need a common denominator of 16:
(10/16) * x + (3/16) * x = 39
This simplifies to:
(13/16) * x = 39
To isolate x, we multiply both sides of the equation by the reciprocal of 13/16, which is 16/13:
(16/13) * (13/16) * x = (16/13) * 39
x = 16 * 3
x = 48
Therefore, a total of 48 Siamese cats were surveyed in the study.