Question

The incoming 7th grade class has a choice of FRENCH or SPANISH as a language elective. There are 3 times as many Spanish classes as French classes (or 3 to 1). How many students can choose Spanish if there are 850 students?

Determine the proportion to use to solve this problem.

(1 point)
Drop target 1
Drop target 2
Drop target 3
Question 2
How many students can choose Spanish if there are 850 students? Round to the nearest whole number.(1 point)
Responses

213 students can take Spanish
213 students can take Spanish

283 students can take Spanish
283 students can take Spanish

425 students can take Spanish
425 students can take Spanish

638 students can take Spanish
638 students can take Spanish
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Answer 1

To solve this problem, we first need to establish the proportion between the French and Spanish classes.

Let:
- \( F \) = number of French classes
- \( S \) = number of Spanish classes

From the problem, we know:
\[
S = 3F
\]

This means the ratio of Spanish classes to French classes is \( S:F = 3:1 \).

If we let the total number of students be 850, we can use this ratio to determine how many students are in each language.

The total ratio of students can be considered as:
\[
F + S = 850
\]

Substituting \( S = 3F \) into the total gives:
\[
F + 3F = 850
\]
\[
4F = 850
\]
\[
F = \frac{850}{4} = 212.5
\]

Since \( F \) must be a whole number, we can round down to 212 (although for the sake of this calculation we can consider \( F \) as either 212 or 213).

Now substituting back to find \( S \):
1. If \( F = 212 \):
\[
S = 3 \times 212 = 636
\]

2. The total number of students would then be \( F + S = 212 + 636 = 848 \).

This is close to 850, so it's a reasonable distribution given the rounding.

Now if rounded \( F = 213 \):
\[
S = 3 \times 213 = 639
\]

Again adding gives \( F + S = 213 + 639 = 852 \), which exceeds 850.

Thus we go with \( F = 212 \) and then having:
- Total students taking Spanish: **636**.

So the closest and reasonable distribution per the proportions is:
\[
S = 636
\]

Therefore, rounding to the nearest whole number:
**636 students** can choose Spanish.

### Final Answers:
1. The proportion to use is \( F : S = 1 : 3 \).
2. **636 students can take Spanish.**