Ana is a girl and has the same number of brothers as sisters. Andrew is a boy and has twice as many sisters as brothers. Ana and Andrew are the children of Emma. How many children does Emma have?
This puzzle can be solved by translating the statements about Ana and Andrew into a system of two algebraic equations.
- Let 'g' be the total number of girls (daughters) in the family.
- Let 'b' be the total number of boys (sons) in the family.
- Now we have a system of two equations and can solve for 'g' and 'b'. Let's substitute the first equation (b = g - 1) into the second one:
g = 2( (g - 1) - 1 )
g = 2(g - 2)
g = 2g - 4
g = 4. (So, there are 4 girls).
- Now we can use the value of g to find b using the first equation:
b = g - 1
b = 4 - 1 = 3. (So, there are 3 boys).
- The total number of children is the sum of the boys and girls.
Total Children = b + g = 3 + 4 = 7.
Final Answer: Emma has 7 children.
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