Question

In a box of pencils, there are 6 regular pencils and 3 mechanical pencils. Write the ratio of mechanical pencils to regular
pencils and describe the ratio. How many more regular pencils than mechanical pencils are there?


9

6

2

3

Answer 1

To find the ratio of mechanical pencils to regular pencils, we start by identifying the quantities:

- Mechanical pencils: 3
- Regular pencils: 6

The ratio of mechanical pencils to regular pencils is expressed as:

\[
\text{Ratio} = \frac{\text{Number of mechanical pencils}}{\text{Number of regular pencils}} = \frac{3}{6}
\]

This can be simplified by dividing both numbers by 3:

\[
\frac{3 \div 3}{6 \div 3} = \frac{1}{2}
\]

So, the ratio of mechanical pencils to regular pencils is **1:2**.

To describe the ratio, this means for every 1 mechanical pencil, there are 2 regular pencils.

To find how many more regular pencils than mechanical pencils there are, we subtract the number of mechanical pencils from the number of regular pencils:

\[
\text{Difference} = \text{Number of regular pencils} - \text{Number of mechanical pencils} = 6 - 3 = 3
\]

Therefore, there are **3 more regular pencils than mechanical pencils**.