Question

Henry and Gavin are marking exam papers. Each set takes Henry 36 minutes and Gavin 1 hour. Express the times Henry and Gavin take as a ratio.
Give your answer in its simplest form

Answer 1

ratio = 36/60 ÷ 1

= 36/60

= 3/5

Answer 2

Henry and Gavin are marking exam papers. Each set takes Henry 36 minutes and Gavin 1 hour. The times taken by Henry and Gavin as a ratio in simplest form is 3:5.

To express any ratio, we need to ensure that both the numerator and denominator have the same units.

Given that, Henry takes 36 minutes to do a task and,

Gavin takes 1 hour (60minutes) to do the same task.    [1 hour = 60 minutes]

So, taking the ratio of the time taken by Henry to the time taken by Gavin is:

(36 mins/ 60 mins) = (36/60) = 3:5                                [Taking minutes as the common unit for both of the cases.]

Thus the ratio is 3:5 in simplest form.