In a bag with 2 red and 3 blue marbles, what fraction of the marbles are red?

In a bag with 2 red and 3 blue marbles, what fraction of the marbles are red?

• A. 2/5
• B. 3/5
• C. 1/2
• D. 1/3

Answer: (A)

To find the fraction of marbles that are red, think of red marbles over the total number of marbles. There are 2 red marbles and 3 blue marbles, so the total is 5 marbles. The red fraction is 2 out of 5, written as 2/5. This reflects the exact share of the bag that is red, and 2/5 is already in simplest form since 2 and 5 have no common factors other than 1. The other options describe different proportions: they would require a different count of red marbles (for example, three red out of five), or a balance between red and blue that isn’t the case here, or a fraction that wouldn’t match the actual total.

To find the fraction of marbles that are red, think of red marbles over the total number of marbles. There are 2 red marbles and 3 blue marbles, so the total is 5 marbles. The red fraction is 2 out of 5, written as 2/5. This reflects the exact share of the bag that is red, and 2/5 is already in simplest form since 2 and 5 have no common factors other than 1. The other options describe different proportions: they would require a different count of red marbles (for example, three red out of five), or a balance between red and blue that isn’t the case here, or a fraction that wouldn’t match the actual total.