Betty has nine pink ribbons and eight blue ribbons. What fraction of Betty's ribbons are pink?

Question

*I am trying to teach my little brother how to do this. How can you write it so i can tell him how to answer the other problems to? I don't just need the answer pelase.

Answer 1

Okay, let's see.
Well, in this type of question:

Fraction of Ribbons =
Specific type of Ribbon/Total Ribbons

or more generally:

Fraction = Part/Whole

[or maybe the word 'Total' instead of 'Whole' ]

So, you could say, for the above problem that the 'Part' = Pink Ribbons
and 'Whole' = Pink Ribbons + Blue Ribbons

So the answer to the above is:
9/(9+8) = 9/17

I hope that helps!