16 pieces left. The ratio of black to red is 3 : 5. How many black pieces are on the board?

Question

How many black are there?

 

Answer 1

The ratio of Black to Red is 3:5.  So for every 3 black pieces, there are 5 red pieces on the board.

 

Since there are 16 pieces, we can say 

3x+5x = 16

 

8x = 16 and x = 2

We want the number of black pieces which is represented by 3x.

3x = 3(2) = 6

 

By the way 

5x = 5(2) =10, the number of red pieces.

 

6+10 = 16