What is 3/7 Chicken, 2/3 Cat, and 2/4 Goat? Deciphering Fractional Animal Puzzles

Fractional animal puzzles like “What is 3/7 chicken, 2/3 cat, and 2/4 goat?” have become popular brain teasers. At first glance, they may seem nonsensical or confusing. However, with some basic math skills, these puzzles can easily be solved. In this article, we’ll break down the steps for deciphering fractional animal puzzles using the example “What is 3/7 chicken, 2/3 cat, and 2/4 goat?”.

Understanding the Puzzle Format

Fractional animal puzzles follow a simple format:

• There are one or more fractions listed
• Each fraction is associated with an animal
• The fractions represent part of that animal

For example, “3/7 chicken” indicates we have 3/7 of a whole chicken

The goal is to determine how many full animals we have in total, based on the fractional parts given.

Step 1: Convert the Fractions to Decimal Values

We need to change the fractions to decimals before we can solve these puzzles. Because of this, we can work with exact numbers instead of fractional parts.

Here are the decimal conversions:

• 3/7 chicken = 0.42857 chicken
• 2/3 cat = 0.66667 cat
• 2/4 goat = 0.5 goat

Converting to decimals makes the values easier to visualize and calculate with

Step 2: Scale the Decimal Values to Represent Whole Animals

Next, we’ll scale up the decimal values to represent whole animals.

To do this, we divide 1 by the decimal value:

• 0.42857 chicken × (1/0.42857) = 1 chicken
• 0.66667 cat × (1/0.66667) = 1.5 cats
• 0.5 goat × (1/0.5) = 1 goat

This gives us the number of whole animals for each fractional part.

Step 3: Add the Whole Animals Together

Now we can simply add up the whole animals:

• 1 chicken
• 1.5 cats
• 1 goat

Therefore, the total is 1 chicken, 1.5 cats, and 1 goat.

And there we have it! By following these steps, we can easily decipher fractional animal puzzles.

Examples of Other Fractional Animal Puzzles

Let’s look at a few more examples to demonstrate how this process works:

Puzzle: What is 2/3 squirrel, 3/5 bunny, and 5/9 duck?

Step 1: Convert to decimals

• 2/3 squirrel = 0.66667 squirrel
• 3/5 bunny = 0.6 bunny
• 5/9 duck = 0.55556 duck

Step 2: Scale to whole animals

• 0.66667 squirrel × (1/0.66667) = 1 squirrel
• 0.6 bunny × (1/0.6) = 1.66667 bunnies
• 0.55556 duck × (1/0.55556) = 1.8 ducks

Step 3: Add the whole animals

• 1 squirrel
• 1.66667 bunnies
• 1.8 ducks

Answer: 1 squirrel, 1 bunny, and 2 ducks

Let’s try one more:

Puzzle: What is 1/4 cow, 2/3 pig, and 3/8 sheep?

Following the same process, the answer is 1 cow, 1 pig, and 1 sheep.

Why Use Fractions in Animal Puzzles?

You may be wondering why fractions are used in these animal puzzles, rather than just stating whole animal counts. There are a few reasons:

• Fractions make the puzzles more mathematically interesting and challenging. They require an extra step of conversion and calculation.

• The use of fractional parts allows more flexibility in coming up with puzzle combinations and permutations. Any fractions from 0 to 1 can be used.

• Imagining fractional animals sparks our visual creativity. We have to draw a part of an animal, like 3/4 of a giraffe’s neck and its spots.

• Fractions reinforce fundamental math concepts in an applied, real-world way. Solving these puzzles is good practice for fractional fluency.

To sum up, fractions add another level of fun and learning to these animal puzzles.

Tips for Solving Fractional Animal Puzzles

Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind when tackling fractional animal brain teasers:

• Always convert the fractions to decimal values first. Avoid trying to work with the fractions themselves.

• Be careful to scale the decimals properly to whole animals. Dividing by the decimal, not multiplying, gives you whole animals.

• Write down each step to keep your work organized. It gets harder to solve these puzzles in your head as you add more animals and fractions.

• Double check your math. Silly mistakes can easily happen when working with multiple fractional conversions and additions.

• Start with simpler puzzles before working up to more complex ones with more fractions and animals. Build your skills and confidence first.

• Enjoy the process! Fractional animal puzzles are meant to be fun brain training exercises, not tedious math homework.

With practice, these puzzles can be mastered by students of any age. They provide entertaining and meaningful practice working with fractions, decimals, proportions, visualization, and logical thinking. Learning math by figuring out chickens and cats is far more fun than textbook equations. Give your brain a workout and delight your inner child by tackling some fractional animal puzzles today!