Question 1084492: Teach me the steps of solving a ratio problem such as 2:3:4
Answer by Theo(13342)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! here's a good reference.
http://www.onlinemathlearning.com/ratio-math-problems.html
just do a search for "how to solve ratio problem with 3 ratios" and you'll find lots more websites that will attempt to explain it.
to use your question as an example:
assign variables to the ratios
i'll use one of the examples in the reference i chose to show you how it works.
Clothing store A sells T-shirts in only three colors: red, blue and green. The colors are in the ratio of 3 to 4 to 5. If the store has 20 blue T-shirts, how many T-shirts does it have altogether?
the colors are red, blue, and green.
the colors are in the ratio of 3 to 4 to 5.
this means that the ratio of red shirt to blue shirts is 3/4 and the ratio of blue shirts to green shirts is 4/5
you get:
red/blue = 3/4 and you get blue/green = 4/5
you have 20 blue shirts.
your ratio of red/blue = 3/4 = x/20
x represents the number of red shirts you need to find.
solve for x to get x = 20*3/4 = 60/4 = 15
your ratio of blue/green = 4/5 = 20/x
x represents the number of green shirts you need to find.
solve for x to get x = 5*20/4 = 25
you have 15 red shirts, 20 blue shirts, and 25 green shirts.
15/20 = 3/4
20/25 = 4/5
if you simplify 15/20, you will see that it is equivalent to 3/4
if you simplify 20/25, you will see that it is equivalent to 4/5.
the total number of shirts is 60.
check the reference and you'll see that this is correct.
here's another tutorial that might be helpful.
http://www.purplemath.com/modules/ratio2.htm
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