To solve the problem, we have two pieces of information which we can use to form equations.
1. The number of monkeys is 8 more than the number of birds.
2. There are a total of 22 animals in the cage.
Let's assign variables to represent the number of birds and monkeys:
Let the number of birds be \(x\).
According to the first piece of information, the number of monkeys will then be \(x + 8\).
Using the second piece of information about the total number of animals, we can write an equation that represents the sum of the birds and monkeys:
\(x\) (birds) + \(x + 8\) (monkeys) = 22 (total animals)
Combining like terms in this equation gives us:
\(2x + 8 = 22\)
To find the value of \(x\), we first isolate the variable term (2x) by subtracting 8 from both sides of the equation:
\(2x = 22 - 8\)
\(2x = 14\)
Now we divide both sides by 2 to solve for \(x\):
\(x = \frac{14}{2}\)
\(x = 7\)
Now that we have the number of birds, which is 7, we can find the number of monkeys by remembering that there are 8 more monkeys than birds:
Number of monkeys = Number of birds + 8
Number of monkeys = 7 + 8
Therefore, the number of monkeys is 15.
