Expert: Sherman D. - 3/13/2004

Question
  The head of an alligator is 6in,     the tail is 2x the size of the head plus half the size of the body,       the body is the same size of the head plus the tail.          how long is the alligator?      
A= 27in
b=54in
c=63in
d=72in
e=84


Answer
h = head
t = tail
b = body

h = 6
t = 2h + (1/2)b
b = h + t

thats if by 2x the size, you mean 2 times the size.

t = 2h + (1/2)b
b = h + t

t = 2(6) + (1/2)b
t = 12 + (1/2)b

b = 6 + t
t = b - 6

b - 6 = 12 + (1/2)b
b - (1/2)b = 12 + 6
(1/2)b = 18
b = 36

t = 36 - 6
t = 30

so now you have

Body = 36 inches
Tail = 30 inches
Head = 6 inches

t + h + b = 36 + 30 + 6 = 66 + 6 = 72

The answer is d.) 72 inches

If the question had said that the tail is 2 times the sum of the head and half the body, then "t" would be 2(h + (1/2))b, but if you try working that out, you wouldn't be able to get an answer to the tail's length.