The ratio of boys to girls in a class is 4:7.

There are 88
students in the class. How many boys are there?
SOLUTION:
Let’s call the number of boys ‘b’, and the number of girls ‘g’.

If the ratio of boys to girls is 4:7, this means that for every 4 boys, we have 7 girls. So, it is
correct to say that 7*b = 4*g (i.e. 4 * the number of all boys is equal to 7 * the number of all
girls).

Further, we know that there are only boys and girls in the class, so b+g=88. Now, we can
solve.

7b = 4g

b = 4g/7

So:

4g/7 + g = 88

g = 56

So, we have 32 girls in the class. Then, we can plug back in to our original equation:

b = 32

So we have 32 boys in the class.

OTHER SOLUTION:

Let the common multiple be x

Ratio is 4x:7x

4x+7x=88

11x=88

x=8

The total number of boys=4x

4*8=32
Chickens and rabbits
In the yard were chickens and rabbits. Together they had 18 heads and 56 legs. How many chickens and how
many rabbits were in the yard?

SOLUTION:
x = chicken
y = rabbit

x + y =18
2x + 4y = 56

x = 18 – y

2 (18 – y) + 4y = 56
36 – 2y + 4y = 56
36 – 36 – 2y + 4y = 56 - 36
2y = 20
y = 10

how tall is the flagpole ?

A flagpole casts a shadow 48 ft long at the same time that a 6 ft tall person casts a shadow 24 ft
long. How tall is the flagpole ?

6 x
=
24 48

x = 12