In a certain school, 40 more than 1/3 of all the students are taking a science course and 1/4 of those taking a science course are taking physics. If 1/8 of all the students in the school are taking physics, how many students are in the school ?

Correct answer marked below

240

Correct

300

480

720

960

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Comments

NeilAug 27

Thanks, this one clicked pretty fast once I set total students = x.

EliSep 7

same here, the science = 1/3x + 40 part was the key

KartikayMay 9

wait why do we set physics two ways? got 480 at first because I forgot the +40 smh

MathysMay 16

because 1/8 of all students is physics, and 1/4 of science is also physics. so those two expressions have to match up

What this question tests

Your ability to convert between fractions, ratios, and decimals and to reason proportionally.

Cross-multiplying incorrectly or mixing up the ratio parts — a part:part ratio is not a fraction of the whole.