Gregory keeps school supplies in his locker. He has 24 pencils and 16 erasers. What is the ratio of erasers to pencils in his locker?

Since you know you have 16 erasers and 24 pencils, the first thing you should do is put it in to an actual ratio, like so:
16:24
Now that you have a ratio, you need to simplify it. It is very similar to simplifying fractions. You can start by dividing by 2, which gives you:
8:12
And by two again:
4:6
And again:
2:3
So you now know that Gregory’s ratio of erasers to pencils in his locker is 2:3!!
You could also divide 16:24 by 8 which gives you the answer quicker, but I find it easier to break it down in smaller, more manageable chunks. It’s all in finding a common multiple and making the ratio the smallest whole numbers possible :)

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