To find the ratio of mechanical pencils to regular pencils, we can use the counts provided:
- Number of mechanical pencils = 3
- Number of regular pencils = 6
The ratio of mechanical pencils to regular pencils is expressed as:
\[ \text{Ratio} = \frac{\text{Number of mechanical pencils}}{\text{Number of regular pencils}} = \frac{3}{6} \]
We can simplify this ratio:
\[ \frac{3}{6} = \frac{1}{2} \]
Thus, the ratio of mechanical pencils to regular pencils can also be expressed as 1 to 2.
Given the provided options:
- 1 to 6
- 3 to 6
- 3 to 9
- 6 to 3
The best match from the options would be 3 to 6, as it represents the original counts of mechanical to regular pencils.
In summary:
- The ratio of mechanical pencils to regular pencils is 3 to 6.
- This means there are 3 mechanical pencils for every 6 regular pencils, or for every 1 mechanical pencil, there are 2 regular pencils.