Question

One group (A) contains 585 people. One-third of the people in group A will be selected to win $25 fuel cards. There is another group (B) in a nearby town that will receive the same number of fuel cards, but there are 488 people in that group. What will be the ratio of nonwinners in group A to nonwinners in group B after the selections are made? Express your ratio as a fraction or with a colon.

Answer 1

390 : 293

Explanation:

2/3 of Group A are non-winners. That number is ...

(2/3)(585) = 390

The number of winners is the same in both groups, so the number of non-winners in Group B is this number reduced by the difference in group size:

390 -(585 -488) = 390 -97 = 293

So, the ratio of A non-winners to B non-winners is ...

390 : 293