There are 14 books on a shelf. 8 of these books are new. The rest of them are used. What is the ratio of used books on the shelf to all books?

Question

Finding ratios

Answer 1

Hi Jordan,

When dealing with ratios, it's helpful to know what all the possible numbers are. In this case, you know the following:

1. 14 books are on the shelf total
2. 8 of those books are new
3. Therefore 6 (14-8) is the total number of books that are used

From this you can find the ratio of old (6) to all books (14). You can take that ratio and reduce it to a smaller ratio (think half the numerator and half the denominator).

Now I bring up listing all the possible numbers because reading the question is very important! The question could have asked what is the ration of new to used? Or new to total? In which case the answer would be different. Just something to keep in mind when you come across a ratio problem!

Hope this helps! Good luck!