Question

The ratio of dogs to cats in Simon's neighborhood is 4 : 6. If there are 36 cats in Simon's neighborhood, how many dogs are there?

Answer 1

dogs to cats means 4 dogs for every 6 cats

if there are 36 cats. divide that by 6

36/6 = 6 then multiply that by 4 so 6*4 = 24

 so 24 dogs

Answer 2

A ratio like a:b can be represented as a fraction $\frac{a}{b}$
Convert the 4:6 ratio to a fraction.

4:6 = $\frac{4}{6}$

We want to know how may dogs will be in an area with 36 cats.

You need to make the fraction $\frac{4}{6}$ equal to the fraction
$\frac{x}{36} $

The variable x represents the number of dogs there are.

Solve for x.

$\frac{4}{6} = \frac{x}{36} \\ \\ (\frac{4}{6})(\frac{36}{1}) = (\frac{x}{36})(\frac{36}{1}) \\ \\ 24 = x$

So, there will be 24 dogs if there are 36 cats.