Callie has a new kitten. They can weigh 3 pounds less than half the weight of Callie‘s cat. Together the cat and kitten weigh 18 pounds. Find a system of equations that can be used to find the weight of each animal

The weight of cat is 14 pounds and the weight of kitten is 4 pounds.

Step-by-step explanation:

Given:

Callie has a new kitten. It can weigh 3 pounds less than half the weight of Callie‘s cat. Together the cat and kitten weigh 18 pounds.

Now, to find the weight of each animal:

Let the cat's weight be

And the kitten weight =

Total weight of cat and kitten = 18 pounds.

Now, to set an equation to get the weight of each animal:

Multiplying both sides by 2 we get:

Adding both sides by 6 we get:

Dividing both sides by 3 we get:

The weight of cat = 14 pounds.

Substituting the value of to get the kitten's weight:

The kitten's weight = 4 pounds.

Therefore, the weight of cat is 14 pounds and the weight of kitten is 4 pounds.