if 32 students in a class are females and the ratio of female to male students is 16:9 ,then what percentage of the class is female ?

Question

the options are  :

• 32%
• 36%
• 56.25%
• 72%

  okay, so i thought this one is easy and tried it :

 

  let  x be total students .

  if 32 are females then males would be (x-32),

   and using proportion equation  16/9 = 32/(x-32) ,

   i got  x= 50 ,

  and again using percentage formula   ie.    ( 32/50)X100%  i got the answer 64% ,  can't understand where i went wrong at all!!

and if  i subtract 100% - 64% (from answer calculated )  =  36% which does match an answer, getting  confused !

Answer 1

Hey Aaanchal,

Your math is fine, there are no errors. Perhaps you misread the question? Are you sure it's asking what percentage is FEMALE? If it is male, then 36% is right based on what you wrote above.

 

~Kehley