Four friends contribute sums of money to a charitable organization in Haiti in the ratio of 2:3:5:8. If the largest amount comtributed is $18,500, calculate the total amount contributed by the four people.
The ratios suggest that you must divide the 18500 into 2+3+5+8=18 parts. That makes 1027.77 per part
The donations are then
2055.55
3083.33
5138.88
8222.22
ignoring roundoff errors