males and females

P

Psychguy98

Junior Member
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Dec 17, 2010
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There are 58 males. 9/14 are females. How many females are there?

I'm not sure where to begin? Thanks!!!!! can i set it up as a proportion?
 
Check your post for accuracy; as is, there's 104.4 females !
 
Psychguy98 said:
There are 58 males. 9/14 are females. How many females are there?

I'm not sure where to begin? Thanks!!!!! can i set it up as a proportion?
Click to expand...

Denis had asked you to make sure you posted the correct problem.

You did not answer that!

Are you sure of the exact wording? Is it - female population is 9/14 of total population or female population is 9/14 of the male population?

Are you sure number of males is NOT 56?
 
Would come out sensibly (no part woman!) if 55 males:
(another trip to the corner for your 56, Subhotosh!)

f = females ; so total = f + 55

9/14 of total are females; so:
9/14(f + 55) = f ; multiply by 14:
9(f + 55) = 14f

Let's see YOU finish that...
 
Denis said:
another trip to the corner for your 56

56 males would work okay, if the exercise were to state, "The ratio of females to males is 9/14".
Click to expand...
 
Just because Denis CANNOT play cricket - he wants me to go to corner, before reading my full response.....
 
In a certain group of people, there are 58
males, and 9/14 of the people are females.

5/14 * x = 58

5 *x = 812

x = 162.4 - 58 = 104. 4 ?
 
Subhotosh Khan said:
Just because Denis CANNOT play cricket - he wants me to go to corner, before reading my full response.....
Click to expand...
Not "cannot play", but "wouldn't be caught dead playing"!!

You did not specify "IF ratio means...." but just made a remark....sooooo CORNER :twisted:
 
Psychguy98 said:
9/14 of the people are females

5/14 * x = 58

You did not define your symbol x.

I assume: x = the number of females.

(Denis already posted f, but you're free to pick any symbol you like. However, please provide a definition for each symbol you choose. We like to know things.)

From where does your fraction 5/14 come?
Click to expand...
 
Psychguy98 said:
well if there are 9/14 females, I assume that there are 5/14 males

In this case, you're proceeding as though the phrase "9/14 females" means "9/14ths of the group is female".

Why are you multiplying the number of females by 5/14ths?
Click to expand...

You did not correct my assumption about your undefined symbol, so I consider my assumption correct.

 
5/14 represents the number of males. 'x' is our unknown which in this case will the total number of people. I subtracted 58(males) to get 104.4 females?
 
Psychguy98 said:
5/14 represents the number of males. 'x' is our unknown which in this case will the total number of people. I subtracted 58(males) to get 104.4 females?
Click to expand...
YES...good work!!! Can we lay this one to rest now :shock:
 
Psychguy98 said:
'x' is our unknown which in this case will the total number of people.

"Our unknown" is the number of females, and the symbol x has no meaning, until you explicitly say so.
Click to expand...

You've confirmed Denis' initial response. Are you now convinced that this exercise is flawed?

 
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