22) A vandal slashes all the tires of cars and motorcycles parked along a street. The police arrest him and find that the damaged vehicles number 44. The perpetrator is ordered to pay for the replacement of the 144 tires he slashed. How many motorcycles were parked on that street?

(A) Less than 9, (B) more than 10 and less than 14, (C) more than 15 and less than 19,
(D) more than 20 and less than 24,
(E) more than 25.
22. The answer is $(\mathbf{C})$.

Let $x$ be the number of motorcycles and $y$ be the number of damaged cars. The damaged vehicles are $x+y=44$ while the tires are $2 x+4 y=144$.

Therefore: $2 x+4 y=2(x+y)+2 y=2 \cdot 44+2 y=144$ from which $y=28$. The number of damaged motorcycles is then $x=44-y=16$.