Question

The residents of a city voted on whether to raise property taxes. The ratio of yes votes to no votes was

6 to 5
if there were 5918
total votes, how many yes votes were there?

Answer 1

The formula would be set up as ratios (or fractions). The first ratio is 6:5, which in total is 11. There were 6 yes out of 11, so the fraction = 6/11.

The second fraction has a total of 5918, however you do not know the amount of yes votes, so the variable placeholder will be called "x".

The final formula would be:
6/11 = x/5918

You do cross multiplication and you get:
11x = 35508. You divide both sides, and you get x = 3228.

Because x is the placeholder for the amount of yes votes, and x = 3228, the amount of yes votes is 3228