need help with a ratio problem please...

[tigerpawz74]

I get a different answer from the answer key on this one, so I'd appreciate your help.

A chef mixes his salt and pepper. If he puts 2/3 cup of salt and 1/2 cup of pepper in his shaker, what is the ratio of salt to pepper?

I started by getting a common denominator, 6, so:

2/3 = 4/6
1/2 = 3/6

so is it correct that the ratio of salt to pepper would be 4 : 3 ?

If I subtract 3/6 from 4/6, I get 1/6, which is the answer they have in the book, but that seems wrong to me because that is saying that there is one part salt for every 6 parts of pepper, but there is more salt according to the original fractions, so how can that be right? Thanks, Marilyn

 

[Denis]

Definition:
The ratio of two numbers r and s is written r / s , where r is the numerator and s is the denominator.

So ratio salt to pepper (2/3) / (1/2) = 4 / 3 : 4 to 3

I can't see why book has 1 to 6.

 

[tigerpawz74]

Hey, Thanks!

I didn't think 1/6 could be the right answer, no matter how I worked it, I came up with 4/3, so thanks!

 

[Gene]

Just in case, did you quote the problem exactly? If you add salt to 1/2 cup of pepper to make 2/3 cup of mixture...
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Gene