Shannon counted the wheels of the cars and bicycles which passed by her while she was waiting for a bus. By the time she counted 58 wheels. How many possibilities are there of each type of vehicles that could have passed by her?
Number of
possibilities |
Number of
car wheels |
Number of
bicycle wheels |
Number of
cars |
Number of
bicycles |
| 1. |
4 |
54 |
1 |
27 |
| 2. |
8 |
50 |
2 |
25 |
| 3. |
12 |
46 |
3 |
23 |
| ... |
|
|
|
|
| 14. |
56 |
2 |
14 |
1 |
Notice that the least number of bicycles is 1.
So, for the last possibility, we assume the number of bicycles to be 1.
Number of cars' wheels if there is one bicycle
= 58 - 2
= 56
Number of cars if there is one bicycle
= 56 ÷ 4
= 14
Number of possibilities of each type of vehicles that could have passed by her = 14
Answer(s): 14
