Final answer:
To calculate the fraction of players that are girls on a basketball team with a ratio of 5:4 girls to boys, we add the parts of the ratio (5 + 4) to get the total parts (9). Dividing the girls' part by the total gives us 5/9, which is the fraction of players on the team that are girls.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question 'The ratio of the number of girls on a basketball team to the number of boys on the team is 5:4. What fraction of the players on the team are girls?' involves calculating a fraction from a given ratio. With a ratio of 5:4 for girls to boys, we can interpret this as there being 5 girls for every 4 boys on the team. To find the fraction of the team that are girls, we need to consider the total number of parts in the ratio, which is 5 for girls plus 4 for boys, totaling 9 parts.
To find the fraction of girls, we will divide the number of parts that are girls by the total number of parts:
Fraction of players that are girls = Number of girls / Total number of players = 5 / (5 + 4) = 5 / 9
Therefore, the fraction of the players on the team that are girls is 5/9.