Question

A special cereal mixture contains rice and wheat in the ratio of 2:3. If a bag of the mixture contains 3 pounds of rice, how much wheat does it contain?

Answer 1

9514 1404 393

Answer:

  4.5 lb

Step-by-step explanation:

The ingredients are proportional so ...

  wheat/rice = 3/2 = ??/3 lb

Multiplying by 3 lb gives ...

  ?? = (3 lb)(3/2) = 9/2 lb = 4.5 lb

The mixture contains 4.5 lb of wheat.

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Additional comment

Writing the proportion with the unknown in the numerator makes it possible to find the solution in one step (multiply by the denominator). Any proportion can be written 4 different ways, so you can always choose one that makes the solution easy. (upside down and sideways)

  a/b = c/d   ⇔   b/a = d/c   ⇔   a/c = b/d   ⇔   c/a = d/b