Use ratio box to solve this problem. The patient doctor ratio at the large hospital was 20 to 1. If there were 48 doctors, how many patients were there?

Answer 1

We can set up a ratio box like this:

| | Doctors | Patients |
|--------------|-------|------------|
| Ratio | 20:1 | ? |
| Actual Amount | 48 | ? |

To solve for the missing amount of patients, we can use cross multiplication. First, we can simplify the ratio 20:1 to just 20. Then, we can set up the equation:

20 (doctors) = 1 (patient)
48 (doctors) = x (patients)

Cross multiplying, we get:

20 * x = 1 * 48

Simplifying:

x = 48/20

x = 2.4

Since we can't have a fractional amount of patients, we round up to the nearest whole number. Therefore, the answer is:

There were 3 patients for every 1 doctor, so if there were 48 doctors, there were 48 x 3 = 144 patients.