Exotic Animals Project

Name(s):
Write down necessary steps and answers clearly and legibly to
Math Department earn full credit. Complete this project by yourself or in a group
of no more than 3 people.
You may write down your steps and answers on a piece of paper and scan it into a pdf file
or you may use a software such as Microsoft word to type the steps and answers. Your
submission must be a pdf file. No credit and no extra time will be given when your work
is not legible or your file is corrupted. Most points are given on question number 4.

The following question is modified from Carl Stitz and Jeff Zeager’s Precalculus.
Alexander’s Exotic Animal Rescue houses snakes, frogs, and scorpions. When asked
how many animals of each kind he boards, Daniel answered: ‘We board 39 total animals,
and I am responsible for each of their 176 legs and 19 tails.’ (Recall: snakes have no
legs and one tail, frogs have 4 legs and no tail, and scorpions have 8 legs and one tail.)
Your goal is to find the number of each animal the Rescue boards by answering the
following questions.
1. Use a variable to represent the number of each of the 3 animals. Write down what each
variable represents.

2. Write down the system of 3 linear equations.

3. Write down the corresponding augmented matrix.

4. Solve the same system using matrices. Be sure to use correct notations and write down
all necessary steps. No credit will be given if you use other techniques!

5. State your answers in a complete sentence.

Intermediate Algebra Spring 2019 Page 1