Add up the 2 sides of the ratio. In a ratio of 2:4, one will get 2 shares and the other will get 4 shares. There are 2+4= 6 shares all together. The 6 shares add up to 36, so how much is each share ? It's. 36/6 = 6 in a share.<br />So the small side of the ratio gets 2 shares = 12, and the big side gets 4 shares = 24. The split is 12:24. Those numbers are in the ratio of 2:4 and they add up to 36. ====> Add the sides of the ratio to find the total number of 'shares'.