1956 AMC 12 Problem 6

Attempt Problem 6 of the 1956 AMC 12 below, then check your answer against the professionally curated solution from LIVE by Po-Shen Loh. You can also try the full timed exam, view all 1956 AMC 12 solutions, or check the answer key.

All problems are used with official legal permission of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).

6.

In a group of cows and chickens, the number of legs was 1414 more than twice the number of heads. The number of cows was:
55
77
1010
1212
1414
Answer: B
Concepts:linear equationsheads and legsinvariant
Small hint:
Twice the number of heads already accounts for two legs per animal
Big hint:
Each cow contributes two additional legs beyond that baseline
Solution:
Counting two legs for every head accounts for both legs of each chicken and two of each cow’s four legs. Thus every cow contributes exactly two of the 1414 extra legs. Hence the number of cows is 142=7. \frac{14}{2}=7.
Thus, the correct answer is B.
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