SOLUTION: Dear tutor i'm studying for the GRE and i'm having a lot of trouble translating the math word problems into an equation. this is the problem that I have: If the ratio of 2x to

Algebra ->  Percentage-and-ratio-word-problems -> SOLUTION: Dear tutor i'm studying for the GRE and i'm having a lot of trouble translating the math word problems into an equation. this is the problem that I have: If the ratio of 2x to      Log On


   

Question 176352: Dear tutor i'm studying for the GRE and i'm having a lot of trouble translating the math word problems into an equation.
this is the problem that I have:
If the ratio of 2x to 5y is 3 to 4, waht is the ratio of X to Y?
also if you have any tricks that could help me translate these problems into equations i would really appreciate it.
Thank you very much and have a wonderful day
Found 2 solutions by Fombitz, jojo14344:
Answer by Fombitz(32388) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Let's look at the language.
"is" means equals (=)
"ratio of 2x to 5y" means
%282x%29%2F%285y%29
Let's put it all together.
%282x%29%2F%285y%29=3%2F4
You're looking for
x%2Fy
Multiply both sides of eq. 1 by (5/2),
%282x%29%2F%285y%29=3%2F4
%285%2F2%29%28%282x%29%2F%285y%29%29=%283%2F4%29%285%2F2%29
x%2Fy=15%2F8

Answer by jojo14344(1513) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!

Given: 2x%2F5y=3%2F4
Cross multiply---->4%2A2x=3%2A5y
8x=15y divide both by 8y:
8x%2F8y=15y%2F8y--->cross%288%29x%2Fcross%288%29y=15%2Across%28y%29%2F%288%2Across%28y%29%29
highlight%28x%2Fy=15%2F8%29
Now putting this into Equation:
x%2Fy=15%2F8
cross multiply:
8x=15y----->highlight%288x-15y=0%29
We'll see the graph:
------> see point: x=15 & y=8 as per our Ratio above.
thank you,
Jojo