Final answer:
The ratio of children to adults treated in the emergency room is 2:1, which signifies that for every two children, there was one adult treated.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student has presented a problem that involves calculating the ratio of children to adults treated in a hospital emergency room on a particular day. To find the ratio, we use the total number of people treated (36) and subtract the number of children (24) to determine the number of adults treated that day. So, if 24 out of 36 were children, then 36 - 24 = 12 adults were treated.
The ratio of children to adults is therefore 24 to 12. However, ratios should be simplified to their smallest whole number terms. In this case, both numbers can be divided by 12, which simplifies the ratio to 2:1. This means that for every two children treated, there was one adult treated.