# QThe ratio of boys to girls in the class was 4:5

The ratio of boys to girls in the class was 4:5. There were 24 people in the class. How many boys? How many girls?

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#1judsonAnswered at 2013-02-11 03:45:22
Wow, this is a fail math problem. Apparently we have a fractional number of boys and girls because 4x + 5x = 24 --> x = 24/9 = 8/3, so 32/3 boys and 40/3 girls...?
#2vyAnswered at 2013-02-12 22:00:34
<font face="Times New Roman" size="+2"> I took one look at the numbers in this problem and couldn't resist doing it all the way through. Talk about ROFLMAO. Let *[tex \Large x] represent the number of boys. Then *[tex \Large 24\ -\ x] must be the number of girls. *[tex \LARGE \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \frac{4}{5}\ =\ \frac{x}{24\ -\ x}] Cross-multiply *[tex \LARGE \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 4(24\ -\ x)\ =\ 5x] *[tex \LARGE \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ 9x\ =\ 96] *[tex \LARGE \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ x\ =\ 10\frac{1}{3}] That's right, sports fans, ten and one-third boys, from which it follows that we have 13 and two-thirds girls. So what do we have? One very effeminate boy who is actually 2/3 girl? One slightly butch girl that is actually 1/3 boy? Someone part way through the process of sex change? A space alien that doesn't differentiate between the sexes quite in the same fashion that humans do (nevertheless qualifies as a person lest we run afoul of those who would call us criminals if we don't celebrate all diversity)? Or how about 8 boys, 10 girls, 1 teacher (an adult and therefore neither a boy or a girl), and 5 administrators from the School District Central Offices, who, though they add little or no value to the educational process by their presence are classified as people (see diversity discussion above) and are also, chronologically in any case, classified as adults? I give up. Tell your teacher/instructor/professor to use his or her head for something besides a hat rack. John *[tex \LARGE e^{i\pi} + 1 = 0] My calculator said it, I believe it, that settles it <div style="text-align:center"><a href="http://outcampaign.org/" target="_blank"><img src="http://cdn.cloudfiles.mosso.com/c116811/scarlet_A.png" border="0" alt="The Out Campaign: Scarlet Letter of Atheism" width="143" height="122" /></a></div> </font>
#3tyler smithAnswered at 2013-02-22 13:49:53
The ratio of boys to girls in the class was 4:5. There were 24 people in the class. How many boys? How many girls? ------- 4:5 is the same as 4x:5x where 4x is # of boys and 5x is # of girls. ---- Equation: 4x+5x = 24 9x = 24 x = 24/9 --- 4x = 96/9 5x = 120/9 ----- Comment: Neither of those numbers is a whole number. Either the ratio or the total in the class is incorrect. =============== Cheers, Stan H.
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