A certain number of horses and an equal number of men are going somewh...
Let number of horses = number of men = x.
Then, number of legs = 4x + 2 x (x/2) = 5x.
So, 5X = 70 or x = 14.
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A certain number of horses and an equal number of men are going somewh...
The number of horses can be determined by solving the given information step by step. Let's break down the problem into smaller parts to understand it better.
Let's assume the number of horses and men is x. According to the problem, half of the owners are on the horses' back, while the remaining ones are walking and leading their horses.
- Number of horses with owners on their back: x/2
- Number of horses being led: x/2
Now, we need to determine the number of legs walking on the ground. Each horse has 4 legs, and each person has 2 legs.
- Number of legs from horses being led: (x/2) * 4 = 4x/2 = 2x
- Number of legs from men walking: (x/2) * 2 = 2x/2 = x
The total number of legs walking on the ground is given as 70. Therefore, we can write the equation:
2x + x = 70
Simplifying the equation:
3x = 70
Dividing both sides of the equation by 3:
x = 70/3
Since the question asks for a whole number of horses, we need to find the closest whole number to 70/3, which is 23.333... The closest whole number is 23.
Therefore, there are 23 horses in total.
But the question asks for the number of horses, not the total number of horses and men. Since the number of horses is equal to the number of men, there are 23/2 = 11.5 horses.
Since we can't have half of a horse, we need to round up to the nearest whole number. Therefore, there are 12 horses in total.
Hence, the correct answer is option 'B', 12.