Question

There are 3 times as many males as females on the maths course at university. What fraction of the course are female? Give your answer in its simplest form?

Answer 1

1/4

Explanation:

The given info constitutes a proportion: 3 males : 1 female.

Adding 3 and 1 together, we get 4.

The fraction of students in the course who are female is then 1/4.

Answer 2

1/4 of the course is female.

Explanation:

Let's call x the number of females on the course ⇒ The number of males would be 3x

The total number of students would be x + 3x = 4x.

Based on this, x (the number of females) would be 1/4 of the total students (4x) on the course.