Question

During a checkers game, there are 16 pieces left. The ratio of black to red is 3 : 5. How many black pieces are on the board? Explain how you found your answer.

Answer 1

6 black pieces

10 red pieces

Explanation:

The way to interpret ratios is like so:

Adding up both parts of the ratio gives 8, i.e. 3 + 5

So for every 8 pieces, 3 are black and 5 are red;

There are 16 pieces, which is 2 × 8;

So, there are (2 × 3) black pieces and (2 × 5) red pieces, i.e. 6 black and 10 red

So, to solve:

Add all parts of the ratio (3 + 5);

Divide the number of pieces (16) by this sum of ratio parts (8);

Multiply the value from the division (2) by each part of the ratio

Tip:

It is important to take note of the order in the ratio, so the ratio of black to red means the number that comes first in the ratio represents parts black and the one that comes second represents parts red;

If the wording was the ratio of red to black, the number that comes first would represent parts red and the second would represent parts black