SOLUTION: The ratio of boys to girls in the eighth grade is 4 to 5. If there are 375 students in the eighth grade, how many boys are there? How many girls?

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Question 372346: The ratio of boys to girls in the eighth grade is 4 to 5. If there are 375 students in the eighth grade, how many boys are there? How many girls?
Answer by neatmath(302) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!

We will set up a proportion using the 4 to 5 ratio.

Let x be the unknown # of boys, then 375-x will be the # of girls:

4%2F5=x%2F%28375-x%29

5x=4%2A%28375-x%29

5x=1500-4x

9x=1500

x=500%2F3

Unfortunately, this problem as written does not have a real solution without the use of rounding.

500/3 would round to 167 boys, which would mean there are 208 girls.

However, 167 boys to 208 girls would not be an EXACT 4 to 5 ratio.

This would be my best guesstimate answer with the specifications given in the problem as written.

In order for the answer to come out correctly, the total number of students would need to be divisible by 9.

If there were actually 378 students, a true 4 to 5 ratio would be found by having 168 boys and 210 girls.

I hope this helps a little bit!