I already got the following problem wrong, so I just need help understanding HOW to get the correct answer.

"In order to get a certain shade of blue paint, a mixer must have 5 parts white paint to 3 parts blue.
If 4 gallons of paint must be mixed, how many gallons of white paint must be used?"
ANSWER: 2.5 Gallons

I don't know how to get this answer! SIMPLE step-by-step instructions would be appreciated! (not too complicated because i hate it when people over-complicate an explanation...)

Thank you SO much for helping me!
Nicole

5 parts + 3 parts makes 8 parts in total

So, divide 4 gallons into 8 parts, and each part is 1/2 gal.

White gets 5 parts, blue gets 3.

So, white = 5/2 or 2.5 gal.

Thank u so much Steve!!! This helps a lot! And also thank you for respecting my request to keep it simple. Not a lot of people these days do that. 5 stars! 😉

Thanks again!

no problema. Soon you'll be providing opaque and complicated answers for others! ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°

No problem, Nicole! I'll be happy to help you understand how to solve this problem step by step.

To find out how many gallons of white paint you need, you need to understand the ratio given in the problem. The ratio states that you need 5 parts white paint to 3 parts blue paint to achieve the desired shade of blue.

First, we need to find the total number of parts in the ratio. In this case, it is 5 + 3 = 8.

Next, we need to find the proportion of white paint in the mixture. Since we need 5 parts of white paint out of 8 total parts, we can set up a proportion:

White paint parts / Total parts = White paint gallons / Total gallons

We know that 4 gallons of paint must be mixed, so the equation becomes:

5/8 = White paint gallons / 4

To solve for White paint gallons, you can cross-multiply:

White paint gallons = (5/8) * 4

Now, divide 5 by 8 and multiply the result by 4:

White paint gallons = (5/8) * 4 = (5 * 4) / 8 = 20 / 8 = 2.5

Therefore, you need 2.5 gallons of white paint for mixing 4 gallons of paint to achieve the desired shade of blue.

I hope this step-by-step explanation helped you understand how to solve this type of problem. If you have any further questions or need more clarification, feel free to ask!