Answer:
(a) 135
(b) 28%
Explanation:
We can write equations relating pears to oranges, solve them, and then find the number of apples. Let p, o, and 'a' represent the numbers of pears, apples, and oranges.
p/o = 5/3 . . . . . the ratio of pears to oranges is 5:3
p -o = 54 . . . . . there are 54 more pears than oranges
a -o = 3 . . . . . . there are 3 more apples than oranges
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a)
Multiply the first equation by 3/5o to get ...
3/5p = o
Substitute that into the second equation:
p -(3/5)p = 54
2/5p = 54 . . . . . . simplify
p = 54(5/2) = 135 . . . . multiply by 5/2 to get the number of pears
There are 135 pears in the basket.
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b)
a = 3 +o = 3 +3/5p = 3 +3/5(135) = 3 +81 . . . . solve for the number of apples
a = 84
The percentage of fruits that are apples is ...
apples/total = 84/(135 +81 +84) = 84/300 = 28/100 = 28%
28% of the fruits are apples