Question

There are 24 pens in a desk drawer. The pens are either red or blue. The ratio of red pens to blue pens is 5:1. How many pens are red? How many pens are blue?

Answer 1

The number of red pens is 20.

The number of blue pens is 4.

Explanation:

We are given that, the ratio of number of red pens to the number of blue pens is 5 : 1.

∴ Let us assume that the number of red pens be 5x and number of blue pens be x.

Total number of pens in the desk drawer = 24

Now, according to question :

Number of red pens + Number of blue pens = 24

⇒5x + x = 24

⇒6x = 24

⇒
`x=(24)/(6)=4`

So, number of red pens in the drawer = 5x = 5 × 4 = 20

Number of blue pens in the drawer = x = 4