The sum of three numbers is 81 and their ratio is 3:7:17. What is the value of the smallest number?

1 answer

Add up the ratios 3:7:17 to get 27.
Since ratios can be scaled, we can scale the ratios to have a sum of 81 by multiplying the ratios by 3,i.e.
3:7:17 �ß 9:21:51.