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In this post, we look at a theatre problem. We will explain how you could work it out. We will not carry out every step. We keep it simple. We use clear ideas. You will see how to solve it by yourself.
First, read the question. It tells us the total number of people in the theatre. It also gives the number of men and the number of women. From that, we can find out how many children there are.
Step 1: Find the number of children
Subtract the number of men and the number of women from the total. This leaves you with the number of children.
Step 2: Work with the fraction of boys
The question states that two-fifths of the children are boys. You will multiply the number of children by 2/5. That gives the number of boys.
Step 3: Find the number of girls
All the children are either boys or girls. If you know the number of boys, subtract that from the total number of children. The result is the number of girls.
An alternative step is that you could you have calculated the number of girls straight away. If 2/5 are boys then 3/5 must be girls
An extra tip from a GCSE Maths Tutor: Always write down each step clearly. That way, you are less likely to make mistakes.
Answer: 111 girls.
