Guinea Pigs Against the Law

Guinea pigs feel safer with other guinea pigs. Switzerland has a law saying if you have 1 guinea pig, you MUST own at least 2 guinea pigs. Sometimes people end up with just one guinea pig and need another in a hurry. Luckily a woman named Priska Kung “rents out” guinea pigs. You can get back half your money if you return the pig, but some love their new friends so much that they just keep them!

Wee ones: If you have 2 guinea pigs and bring in 2 more as friends, how many do you have now?

Little kids: If you must have at least 2 guinea pigs, at least how many little guinea pig legs do they have all together?  Bonus: If Priska has 83 guinea pigs and rents out 1, how many does she have now?

Big kids: If you pay $1 per day to rent a guinea pig for 7 weeks, how much does that cost in total?  Bonus: If Priska’s 80 guinea pigs each eat 2 cups of dry food and 1 cup of hay every day, how many cups of food do they all eat each day?

The sky’s the limit: If Priska rents out 1/4 of her 80 guinea pigs in November and 3/10 of the ones left in December, in which month did she rent out more?

Answers:
Wee ones: 4 guinea pigs.

Little kids: 8 little legs.  Bonus: 82 guinea pigs.

Big kids: $49.  Bonus: 240 cups (3 per pet).

The sky’s the limit: In November. She’ll have 3/4 of the pigs left, and 3/10 of 3/4 is 9/40, which is less than 1/4 (which would equal 10/40). If you want to solve using the number of guinea pigs, she rents out 20 in November, leaving her with 60, and she then rents out 3/10 of the 60 which comes to 18 pigs that month.

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