Question

There were 20 pumpkins in a garden. One fourth of the pumpkins were too small, one tenth were too large, and one half were just the right size. The rest were not ripe yet. How many of the pumpkins were too small?

Answer 1

5 pumpkins

Explanation:

It is said that one fourth of the pumpkins is too small, so:

`(pumpkins-that-are-too-small)/(total-amount-of-pumpkins)=(1)/(4)`

This means one out of every four pumpkins is too small.

But we have a total of 20 pumpkins, not four, so we just need to multiply our real total amount of pumpkins with the ratio given and then we find the amount of pumpkins that are too small:

`(pumpkins-that-are-too-small)/(total-amount-of-pumpkins)*total-amount-of-pumpkins`

`=pumpkins-that-are-too-small`

So; filling in the numbers:

`(1)/(4) *20 = (1*20)/(4)=(20)/(4)=5`

Answer 2

Answer: 5 pumpkins

Explanation:

Since one-fourth of the pumpkins were too small, we will find one-fourth of 20 by dividing, then multiplying.

One fourth =
`(1)/(4)` = 0.25

20 * 0.25 = 5

5 pumpkins were too small.