<p>In a mixture of peanuts and cashews, the ratio by weight of peanuts to cashews is 5 to 2. How many pounds of cashews will there be in 4 pounds of this mixture? </p>
<p>Thanks in advance everyone who cares to answer the problem. (Also would be nice if you explain as well, hehe)</p>
<p>Any amount (be it 1 pound, 4 pounds, or 100 pounds) of the mixture is divided into 7 units: 5 units of peanuts and 2 units of cashews.<br>
In this case, the 7 units equal 4 pounds; so, one unit equals 4/7 pounds.
and
peanuts equal (4/7)•5=20/7 pounds
cashews equal (4/7)•2=8/7 pounds.</p>
<p>In more straightforward terms, the problem is this:
7x=4
x=4/7
peanuts=5x=20/7
cashews=2x=8/7</p>
<p>Let’s say there are 5x peanuts and 2x cashews. In total we have 7x nuts, and the cashews are 2x/7x = 2/7 of the mixture of nuts.</p>
<p>If we have 4 pounds of a mixture of peanuts and cashews, 2/7 of that mixture is the weight of cashews. 2/7 x 4 = 8/7.</p>
<p>The cashews are 8/7 pounds.</p>