Here is the problem:
"In an election, 40% of the Democrats and 92.5% of the Republicans voted "yes". Of all the Democrats and Republicans, 68% voted "yes". Find the ratio of Democrats to Republicans."
I came up with 7:8.
I used the substitution method and started with 1:1, 1:2, 2:3, 3:4 etc. until I found something that worked. Is there a method that is more efficient and quick?
"In an election, 40% of the Democrats and 92.5% of the Republicans voted "yes". Of all the Democrats and Republicans, 68% voted "yes". Find the ratio of Democrats to Republicans."
I came up with 7:8.
I used the substitution method and started with 1:1, 1:2, 2:3, 3:4 etc. until I found something that worked. Is there a method that is more efficient and quick?
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Let d be the number of democrats and r be the number of republicans. Then:
0.4d + 0.925r is the total number of yes votes
0.68(d+r) is also the total number of yes votes
so
0.4d + 0.925r = 0.68d + 0.68r
0.28d = 0.245r
d = 0.245/0.28r = 0.875r
d/r = 0.875 = 7/8
0.4d + 0.925r is the total number of yes votes
0.68(d+r) is also the total number of yes votes
so
0.4d + 0.925r = 0.68d + 0.68r
0.28d = 0.245r
d = 0.245/0.28r = 0.875r
d/r = 0.875 = 7/8