Question

At Essex High School 100 students are taking chemistry and 80 students are taking biology. If 20 students are taking both chemistry and biology, what is the ratio of students taking only chemistry to students taking only biology? (use a venn diagram or a table)

3/4

b. 1/1

5/4

4/2

e. It cannot be determined from the information gium

Answer 1

The ratio of students taking only chemistry to students taking only biology at Essex High School is 4:3.

To solve this problem, we should first determine the number of students taking only one of the subjects: chemistry or biology. We know that a total of 100 students are taking chemistry and 80 students are taking biology, with 20 students taking both subjects. The number of students taking only chemistry is the total number taking chemistry minus those also taking biology, which is 100 - 20 = 80 students. Similarly, the number of students taking only biology is 80 - 20 = 60 students.

Now, we can find the ratio of students taking only chemistry to those taking only biology. Hence, the ratio is:

80 students (only chemistry) : 60 students (only biology)

When simplified, this ratio can be expressed in simplest form as:

4 : 3

So, the correct answer to the question is that the ratio of students taking only chemistry to those taking only biology is 4:3.