Question

Out of a group of Swans, 3 and half times the square root of the total number are playing on the shore of a pond. The two remaining ones are swinging in water. Find the total number of swans. 

Answer 1

Let the total number of swans be a. 

Then, 3.5x -`sqrt "a"` + 2  = a

⇒  3.5x -`sqrt "a"` = a - 2

Squaring both sides, we get: 

12.25 a = a² + 4 - 4a 

⇒ a² -16.2 5a + 4 = 0 

⇒ (a-16 ) (a - 0.25) = 0

Hence, total number of swans = 16