Question

for every girl taking classes at the martial arts schools there are 3 boys who are taking classes at the school. if there are 236 students taking classes write and solve a proportion to predict the number of boys taking classes at the school

Answer 1

You have to be very careful how you set this up. For every girl (who counts as 1) there are 3 boys (who count as 3). The total number in the proportion is 3 + 1 =4. You are given a total, but that is both boys and girls. That's why you need the 4.

3/4 = x / 236 Cross multiply

4x = 3 * 236

4x = 708 Divide by 4

x = 708/4

x = 177

There are 177 boys at the school and 236 - 177 = 59 girls.