Question

The ratio of North American Butterflies to South American butterflies at a butterfly park is 6:4. The ratio of South American butterflies to European butterflies is 4:3. There are 72 North American butterflies at the butterfly park.

How many European butterflies are there?
There are*blank *European butterflies.

Answer 1

There are 36 European Butterflies

Explanation:

Step 1: Find the number of South American Butterflies

6:4 will be turned into 72:x

Divide 72 by 6 and we get 12

Multiply 12 by the 4 in the ratio 6:4 and we get 48

= 72 North American Butterflies : 48 South American Butterflies

Step 2: Find the number of European Butterflies

4:3 can be turned into 48:x

We can do the same procedure we did on Step 1

Divide 48 by 4 and we get 12

Multiply 12 by the 3 in the ratio 4:3 and we get 36

= 48 South American Butterflies : 36 European Butterflies

(Note: This formula cannot be used in all ratios because this is a shortcut I use in my head for easy ratios like this one where everything can get divided equally by everything. Also feel free to point out any mistakes.)