Question

There are 56 people in the stands cheering for Beck Junior High at the volleyball game and they are wearing white and maroon shirts. The ratio of marron to white is 5:3. How many people were wearing white shirts?

Answer 1

Set a variable to represent the number of people that are wearing each color. (It can be any letter but I chose x)
First set the equation
5x+3x=56
You would then add up both values to get 8x
8x=56
Then you would divide the 56 by 8 to get
x=7
Then multiply 7 by 3 (the number for the people with white shirts)
21 people are wearing white shirts
35 people are wearing maroon shirts