can you please help me work on this problem? I have a few and I want to know how to figure it out:
The ratio of boys to girls in a class is 5 to 6. How many boys at in the class if there is a total of 121 students.
I guessed 55 boys and 66 girls?
One way to solve this problem is to use a proportion.
5/11 = x/121
11x = 605
x = 55 boys
You are right!
thank you Ms. Sue
You are welcome, Ana.
To solve this problem, you need to use the information given and set up a proportion. A proportion is an equation that states that two ratios are equal.
Let's set up the proportion using the information given:
Boys / Girls = 5 / 6
We also know that the total number of students is 121:
Boys + Girls = 121
To solve for the number of boys, we can set up an equation by isolating the number of boys in terms of only girls:
Boys = (5 / 6) * Girls
Substituting this expression for boys into the equation that represents the total number of students, we get:
(5 / 6) * Girls + Girls = 121
Combining like terms, we have:
(11 / 6) * Girls = 121
To solve for Girls, we can multiply both sides by the reciprocal of (11 / 6), which is (6 / 11):
Girls = (6 / 11) * 121
Calculating this, we find that there are approximately 66 girls in the class.
Now that we have the number of girls, we can substitute this value back into the equation for boys:
Boys = (5 / 6) * 66
Calculating this, we find that there are approximately 55 boys in the class.
So, your guess of 55 boys and 66 girls is correct!