Question

Set up and solve a proportion for the following problem The ratio of the length of an airplane wing to its width is to 1. If the length of a wing is 24.5 meters, how wide must it be?

Answer 1

Let W=width of wing

The ratio (Length/Width) is given and is constant, so you can set ratios equal (this is a proportion):

Length / Width = 8/1 = 32.3/W

(1) cross-multiply, (2) invert both sides, multiply both sides by one of the denominators ... any legal operation of algebra in order to isolate W.

multiply both sides by (W/8):

W = 32.3/8 = 4.04