California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) Math Practice Exam

If the ratio of cats to dogs is 3:2, what fraction of the pets are cats?

1. 1/2

2. 3/5

3. 2/5

4. 7/10

The correct answer is: 3/5

To determine what fraction of the pets are cats when the ratio of cats to dogs is 3:2, we begin by understanding the components of the ratio. The ratio implies that for every 3 cats, there are 2 dogs. To find the total number of pets, we add the parts of the ratio together. In this case, we have 3 (for cats) plus 2 (for dogs), which sums to a total of 5 parts. Next, we are interested in the fraction of the total that represents cats. Since there are 3 parts of cats out of a total of 5 parts, we can express this as a fraction: the number of parts for cats (3) divided by the total number of parts (5). This gives us the fraction of pets that are cats: \[ \frac{3 \text{ (cats)}}{5 \text{ (total pets)}} = \frac{3}{5} \] This calculation clearly shows that cats make up 3 out of the total 5 parts of the pet population, representing the fraction of pets that are cats. Therefore, the correct answer is indeed that the fraction of the pets that are cats is 3/5.