Suppose that on the shelf in a supermarket, the ratio of the number of small milk cartons ( 1 litre) to large milk cartons ( 2 litres) are in the ratio \( 5: 7 \). If there is a total of 180 cartons on the shelf, how many of each type are there?
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To solve this problem, let’s begin by defining the number of small milk cartons as \( 5x \) and the number of large milk cartons as \( 7x \), based on the ratio of \( 5:7 \). The total number of cartons is given as 180, so we can set up the equation: \[ 5x + 7x = 180 \] Combining the terms gives: \[ 12x = 180 \] Now, solving for \( x \) we get: \[ x = 15 \] Now we can find the number of each type of milk carton. For the small cartons: \[ 5x = 5 \times 15 = 75 \] And for the large cartons: \[ 7x = 7 \times 15 = 105 \] So, there are 75 small milk cartons and 105 large milk cartons on the shelf!