Question

The ratio of land to water on the Earth is 1:2. If the ratio of land to water in the Northern hemisphere is 2:3, then find the ratio of land to water in the Southern hemisphere.

Answer 1

Answer:4:11

Explanation:

Let us assume that the surface area of the earth is 30 square meters ( just an assumption so that we can dvide easily by 2, 3, 5.)

Since the ratio of land to water on Earth is 1:2, there are 10 sq. meters of land and 20 sq. meters of water on Earth.

Since the Northern Hemisphere accounts for half of the earth's surface area there are 15 square meters total in the Northern Hemisphere; since the land-to-water ratio for the Northern Hemisphere only is 2:3, there are 6 sq. meters of land and 9 sq. meters of water there.

Given that there is 10 sq. meters land total and 6 sq. meters in the North, there must be 4 sq. meters of land in the Southern Hemisphere. By the same argument, there are 11 sq. meters of water in the South. Therefore, the ratio of land to water in the Southern Hemisphere is 4:11.