Question

an animal shelter has a total of 72 dogs and cats. if the animal shelter has 39 dogs, how many cats does it have?
□ cats

Explanation:

Step1: Define the problem

Let the number of cats be \( c \). The total number of dogs and cats is 72, and the number of dogs is 39. So we can use the equation \( \text{dogs} + \text{cats} = \text{total} \), which translates to \( 39 + c = 72 \).

Step2: Solve for \( c \)

To find \( c \), we subtract the number of dogs from the total number of animals. So \( c = 72 - 39 \).
Calculating \( 72 - 39 \), we get \( c = 33 \).

Answer:

33