The ratio of apples to pears at the farm stand is 5:3. To calculate the percentage of the fruit that is apples, we need to find the total number of parts in the ratio, which is 5 + 3 = 8.
Then, we can calculate the fraction of the fruit that is apples by dividing the number of apple parts by the total number of parts:
5 parts apples / 8 total parts = 0.625
To convert the fraction to a percentage, we can multiply by 100:
0.625 * 100 = 62.5%
Therefore, the percentage of the fruit that is apples is 62.5%.