On a farm, there are 8 cows for every 9 chickens.

Question

(a) Write the ratio of cows to chickens.

(b) If there are chickens on the farm, how many cows are there?

Answer 1

(a) The ratio of cows to chickens is 8:9.

(b) Let's say there are $x$ chickens on the farm. Given the ratio of cows to chickens is 8:9, we can use the ratio to find the number of cows.

Using the ratio, we set up the proportion: $$\frac{\text{cows}}{\text{chickens}}=\frac{8}{9}$$

If there are $x$ chickens, then the number of cows can be found using: $$\text{cows}=\frac{8}{9}\times x$$

So, if there are $x$ chickens, the number of cows is $\frac{8}{9}x$.