Use the image to answer the question.

Question

An illustration shows two horizontal tape diagrams made up of equally sized rectangles. The top tape diagram is labeled blueberries and is 3 rectangles long. The bottom tape diagram is labeled strawberries and is 1 rectangle long.

There are sixteen berries in a fruit bowl. The ratio of blueberries to strawberries is 3 to 1. What value should be inserted into each rectangle?

Answer 1

To find the value that should be inserted into each rectangle, we start by analyzing the given information.

The ratio of blueberries to strawberries is 3 to 1, which means for every 3 parts of blueberries, there is 1 part of strawberries.

This gives us a total of:

• Blueberries: 3 parts
• Strawberries: 1 part
• Total parts = 3 + 1 = 4 parts

Given that there are 16 berries in total, we can find the value of each part by dividing the total number of berries by the total number of parts:

\[ \text{Value of each part} = \frac{\text{Total number of berries}}{\text{Total parts}} = \frac{16}{4} = 4 \]

Now, we can determine the number of blueberries and strawberries:

• For blueberries (3 parts): \( 3 \times 4 = 12 \) blueberries
• For strawberries (1 part): \( 1 \times 4 = 4 \) strawberries

Therefore, the value that should be inserted into each rectangle is 4.