Question

8 students have vanilla ice cream and 16 students have chocolate ice cream. what is the ratio of the number of students who have vanilla to the total number of students? write your answer as two numbers separated by a colon (for example, 2:3).

Explanation:

Step1: Find total number of students

The number of students with vanilla ice cream is 8, and with chocolate is 16. So total students = \(8 + 16 = 24\).

Step2: Find the ratio

The ratio of students with vanilla to total students is \(8:24\). Simplify by dividing both by 8: \(8\div8 : 24\div8 = 1:3\)? Wait, no, wait. Wait, the problem is vanilla to total. Wait, vanilla is 8, total is 8 + 16 = 24. So ratio is 8:24, which simplifies to 1:3? Wait, no, wait, maybe I misread. Wait, the question is "the ratio of the number of students who have vanilla to the total number of students". So vanilla is 8, total is 8 + 16 = 24. So 8:24, divide numerator and denominator by 8: 1:3? Wait, no, 8 divided by 8 is 1, 24 divided by 8 is 3. So 1:3? Wait, but let's check again. Wait, 8 students have vanilla, 16 have chocolate. Total is 8 + 16 = 24. So ratio of vanilla to total is 8:24, which simplifies to 1:3. Wait, but maybe the problem is not to simplify? Wait, the example is 2:3, which is simplified. So we need to simplify. So 8 and 24, GCD is 8. So 8/8 = 1, 24/8 = 3. So 1:3. Wait, but let's confirm. Alternatively, maybe the problem doesn't require simplifying? Wait, the example is 2:3, which is simplified. So we should simplify. So 8:24 = 1:3. Wait, but let's check again. 8 students with vanilla, total is 24. So 8:24, divide both by 8: 1:3. Yes.

Wait, but maybe I made a mistake. Let's do it again. Step 1: Calculate total number of students. Vanilla: 8, Chocolate: 16. Total = 8 + 16 = 24. Step 2: Find the ratio of vanilla to total. So 8 (vanilla) : 24 (total). Simplify by dividing both numbers by their greatest common divisor, which is 8. 8 ÷ 8 = 1, 24 ÷ 8 = 3. So the simplified ratio is 1:3. Wait, but wait, the problem says "write your answer as two numbers separated by a colon". It doesn't say to simplify, but the example is simplified. So probably we need to simplify. So 8:24 simplifies to 1:3.

Wait, but let's check again. 8 students with vanilla, total is 24. So 8:24, which is 1:3. Yes.

Answer:

1:3