Each week, a household carefully divides its grocery budget of £180 between fruit, meat and vegetables at the local supermarket every Saturday morning, spli...
Question 1 Report
Each week, a household carefully divides its grocery budget of £180 between fruit, meat and vegetables at the local supermarket every Saturday morning, splitting the money in the ratio 3:5:2 so that meals stay balanced across the whole week.
- Work out how much is spent on meat. (2)
- Find how much more is spent on meat than on vegetables. (2)
Answer Details
This question tests sharing a fixed total in a given ratio using the unitary method: add the parts of the ratio, divide the total by that number of parts to find the value of one part, then scale up for the share you need.
- The ratio 3:5:2 has \(3+5+2=10\) parts, so one part is worth \(\pounds 180 \div 10 = \pounds 18\). Meat is 5 parts, so meat \(= 5 \times 18 = \) £90 [2].
- Vegetables are 2 parts, so vegetables \(= 2 \times 18 = \pounds 36\). The amount spent on meat is more than on vegetables by \(90 - 36 = \) £54 [2].
Always add every part of the ratio before dividing into the total; dividing by the wrong number of parts (for example forgetting the third share) is the most common slip in this style of question.
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