Question

Brian gets pic 'n mix when at the cinema and makes his bag up with 3 types of sweet. He picks 3 times as many smarties as cola bottles. He also picks twice as many marshmallows as smarties. What proportion of the bag of sweets are cola bottles?
Give your answer in its simplest form.

Answer 1

Answer:

         $\large\boxed{\large{\boxed{\dfrac{1}{10}}}}$

Explanation:

Name x the number of cola bootles.

As he picks 3 times as many smarties as cola bottles, the number of smarties is 3x.

He also picks twice as many marshmallows as smarties. That is 2(3x): 6x.

Summarizing:

• Number of cola bottles:           x
• Number of smarties:               3x
• Number of marshmallows:     6x

                                          Total:     10x

The proportion of the bag of sweets that are cola bottles is:

               $\dfrac{x}{10x}=\dfrac{1}{10}$