Problem:
There are four more girls than boys in Ms. Raub's class of students. What is the ratio of the number of girls to the number of boys in her class?
Answer Choices:
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Solution:
If there were an equal number of girls and boys, there would be of each. By increasing the number of girls by and decreasing the number of boys by , we see that there are girls and boys for a ratio of or .
If there were fewer girls, then the class would be half boys and half girls. Remove girls from the , and the other students are evenly split into boys and girls. Add back the girls to get girls and boys for a ratio, which simplifies to .
Answer: .
The problems on this page are the property of the MAA's American Mathematics Competitions