Practice Questions
- The U.S. Senate has 100 senators. In 2015, only 20 senators were female. What is the ratio of female senators to male senators? (Note: You may not use a calculator.)
A. 1:5 B. 1:4 C. 4:5 D. 4:1
The next question is based on the following figure and information.
A researcher asked a group of 400 students about what types of pets they preferred. She recorded the results in the following pie chart.
- What is the ratio of the number of dogs to cats to rabbits that the students prefer? Simplify your answer as much as possible.
A. 1:6:11 B. 5:1:6 C. 11:6:1 D. 11:5:1
Answers and Explanations
- The correct answer is B.
There are a total of 100 senators, 20 of whom are female. Therefore, there must be 80 male senators. To find the ratio of female senators to male senators, divide the number of female senators by the number of male senators:
Reduce this fraction to its lowest terms by dividing both the numerator and the denominator by 20:
Hence, Choice (B) is the correct answer.
- The correct answer is C.
The figure shows that 55 percent of the students prefer dogs, 30 percent prefer cats, and 5 percent prefer rabbits, so the ratio of dogs to cats to rabbits is 55:30:5. With 5 as the greatest common factor, this reduces to 11:6:1; hence, Choice (C) is the correct answer.