So For every 3 pencils he buys, he buys 2 pens. The ratio is 3:2. You want to find another ratio that is 21:x, because he bought 21 pencils, but you don't know how many pens. You could also rewrite ratios into fractions so you would get 3/2 = 21/x. Move the variable and get 3/2x=21. So 3/2 multiplied by what is equal to 21? 3/2 multiplied by 14 is 21.