Answer
The number of male students is 8.
The number of female students is 32.
Work Step by Step
Let x represent the number of male students. The number of female students is 40 - x.
Now, let’s set up a proportion with the ratio given and a ratio which compares the number of male students to the number of female students.
$\frac{1}{4}$ = $\frac{x}{40 - x}$
To solve this equation, we equate the cross products.
1 $\times$ (40-x) = 4 $\times$ x
40 - x = 4x
40 = 5x
Divide both sides by 5.
8 = x
The number of male students is 8.
The number of female students is 40 - 8 = 32.
