Ratio pens in a box

Question

In box of pens, there are

            three times as many red pens as green pens

    and two times as many green pens as blue pens.

For the pens in the box, write down

the ratio of the number of red pens to the number of green pens to the number of blue pens.

 

Answer 1

Hi Emelia,

 

The ratio of red pens to green pens is given as 3 : 1, since there are three times as many red pens as green pens.

 

We are then given the ratio of green pens to blue pens, which is 2 : 1, since there are twice as many green pens as blue pens.

 

Now to connect the ratios, we simply need to match whatever is found in both ratios, which is the number of green pens. So now we need to find a way to connect 1 (from the first ratio) to 2 (from the second ratio). Easy! Multiply by 2.

 

So the total ratio of the number of red pens to the number of green pens to the number of blue pens is:

 

6 : 2 : 1 (Multiply the first ratio by 2, 6 : 2)

 

Because ratios are in whole numbers, 6 : 2 : 1 works perfectly fine.

 

Hope this helps!