3 Part Ratio

Question

Hi, I need help with this problem, I'm unsure of how to set it up, or solve it. My book says: "An inheritance of $5,000 is to be divided by 3 men in a ratio of 5:3:2. How much will each man receive?". If you could help, that'd be great! Thanks- Jason

Answer 1

If the ratio is 5:3:2 , then the inheritance is split into 5+3+2 = 10 parts.

 

$5000/10 = $500

 

The first man receives 5*$500 = $2500

 

The next receives 3*$500 = $1500

 

The third man receives 2*$500 = $1000

 

 

Answer 2

Hey Jason,

 

Inheritances are usually a lot harder than this (which is one reason why lawyers and accountants make big bucks).

 

Ration problems indicate the proportion.  Look for a word like "per" when reading ratio problems.

 

This problem states that the ratio is 5:3:2.  That means the first person gets 5 while the second person gets 3 and the third person gets 2.  This makes sense, for example if 3 kids get allowances of $5, $3, and $2.

 

The proportion remains the same when it goes to 10:6:4 and then to 15:9:6.  Usually, we reduce the numbers to express them in the smallest integers possible or else in percents (these turn out to be 50%, 30%, 20%).  You could write each person' proportion individually as 50/100 = .5     30/100 = .3  and 20/100 = .2.

 

Now, the problem statement says that the inheritance total is $5,000.  The first person gets 50% (half) of the inheritance.    That is   0.5*$5000  = 50% of 5000  =  $2500

The second person gets 30%, that is   0.3*$5000  =  $1500

And the third person gets 20% which is 0.2 * $5000 = $1000.

 

You're not done yet!  You should CHECK your answer.   Does $2500 + $1500 + $1000 add up to $5000?   YES!

 

Of course, somebody has to pay the lawyer (or maybe he took his fee out of the estate before $5000 was left).