Question

A covered bridge is 6 2/3 yards long. In a painting for sale at a gallery, the bridge is 1 1/4 feet long. A customer wants to know the ratio of the length of the bridge in the painting to the actual length of the bridge. One salesperson says the ratio in simplest form is 3/1. Another salesperson says the ratio in simplest form is 1/16.

Answer 1

The second salesperson is correct. The ratio is 1/16.

In order to find the correct ratio, you first have to turn the actual bridge length into feet. You do this by multiplying the yards by 3.

6 2/3 yards * 3 = 20 feet.

Now we can divide the painting length by the actual length to compare.

1.25ft / 20ft = 1/16