Tom can wash 44 plates in 3 minutes. How many seconds will it take him to wash 12 plates?

Question

how should I solve it? What are the steps?

I don't quite understand

Answer 1

44 : 3 :: 12 : m      proportion

44m = 36              product means/extremes

m = 36/44

m = 9/11

 

9/11 min = 9/11(60) sec

9/11 min = 49.0909090909090909 sec