Question

Sandra and Gill share a box of sweets in the ratio 3:2. Jonny takes half of Sandra's

sweets and a quarter of Gill's sweets. What fraction of the original box of sweets does
Jonny have?

Answer 1

2/5

Explanation:

Sandra : Gill = 3 : 2 = 3x : 2x

Let x be a positive constant

Let 3x = number of sweets Sandra has

Let 2x = number of sweets Gill has

Total sweets in the box = 3x + 2x = 5x

⇒ half of Sandra's sweets = 3x ÷ 2 = (3/2)x

⇒ quarter of Gill's sweets = 2x ÷ 4 = (1/2)x

⇒ Jonny = (3/2)x + (2/4)x = 2x

So Jonny has 2x sweets of the total of 5x:

⇒ 2x / 5x = 2/5