Word problems

[rachelserkez1]

Hi,
I'm having trouble with understanding the language in word problems that forms a ratio. In foundations of math, recording titled "equations", the instructor says that "3m=2w" and that this breaks down into 3 women for every 2 men. Why is this? And how would this word problem look?
I also had trouble with the example "there are 3 times the amount of pears to apples. The equation is p=3a." I don't understand how this happens. It seems to me to be the opposite in the word problem..
Thanks,
Rachel

[rachelserkez1]

She says you have to divide both sides by "w" and also divide both sides by "3" for 3m=2w. Then you should get the ratio of m/w=2/3... Huh?

Also, how do I know what goes on top and what goes on bottom?

[tommywallach]

Hey Rachel,

To solve your confusion, simply try looking at VALUES that would make the equation true:

3m = 2w

Set m = 6 (for example). In that case, w would be 9. That gives an w:m ratio of 6:9 or 3:2.

In your second example, there are 3 times as many pears as apples, if we set the equation the INCORRECT way, the values don't work:

a = 3p

Let's set a = 6, which means p = 2. Uh-oh! Now we have three times as many apples as pears.

In future, always set values for variables. It'll help you work out how to write the underlying equation.

-t