Center For Applied Teaching and Learning
to Yield Scientific Thinking

Lots of Lives

No, you cannot tell with certainty how many kittens the mother has, but there are some possibilities. One possibility is that she could have six kittens with three lives and one kitten with five lives.  Then she would have seven.  Another possibility is that she could have four kittens with five lives and one kitten with three lives.  Then she would have five kittens.

The mother has used seven of her nine lives, so she has two left.  Two of the 25 lives belong to the mother, leaving 23 total for her kittens.

25 lives - 2 lives = 23 lives

 

(6 kittens x 3 lives) + (1 kitten x 5 lives) = 7 kittens with 23 lives OR

 

(4 kittens x 5 lives) + (1 kitten x 3 lives) = 5 kittens with 23 lives