Out of the 57 students in the gym, 17 are sitting on the bleachers and the rest are sitting on the floor. What is the ratio of the number of students sitting on the bleachers to the total number of students?

Answer 1

To find the ratio of the number of students sitting on the bleachers to the total number of students, we need to use the numbers provided.

The total number of students is 57, and the number of students sitting on the bleachers is 17.

The ratio can be expressed as:

\[ \text{Ratio} = \frac{\text{Number of students on bleachers}}{\text{Total number of students}} = \frac{17}{57} \]

To simplify this fraction, we find the greatest common divisor (GCD) of 17 and 57. Since 17 is a prime number, we check if it divides 57:

\[ 57 \div 17 = 3 \]

Thus, the GCD is 17. We can now simplify the fraction by dividing both the numerator and denominator by 17:

\[ \frac{17 \div 17}{57 \div 17} = \frac{1}{3} \]

Therefore, the ratio of the number of students sitting on the bleachers to the total number of students is:

\[ \boxed{\frac{1}{3}} \]