Problems from Proportional distributions: direct and inverse

A father decides to distribute 65 candies in an inversely proportional way, i.e., to the hours that his three children, Patricia, Paula and Pablo, have taken to do their homework. If it has taken them 2,3 and 4 hours, respectively: how many candies does each receive?

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Development:

The first thing that it is necessary to see is that if the distribution is inversely proportional, the one that has taken less time will take more candies, and vice versa.

If we call x the candies that Patricia gets, y those that Paula deserves and z those that Pablo will take, the relation of the distribution will be as follows:

x12=y13=z14

Now we have to find a fraction comparable to the previous ones by the rule of the sum:

x12=y13=z14=C12+13+14

If we operate the denominator with the sum of fractions we get:

12+13+14=6+4+312=1312

With this fact and knowing that, as the statement specifies, the total amount of candies to be distributed C is 65:

x12=y13=z14=651312

So,

2x=3y=4z=1265132x=3y=4z=780132x=3y=4z=60

Therefore, Patricia will have:

2x=60x=602=30 candies

On the other hand, Paula will get:

3y=60y=603=20 candies

And Pablo gets:

4z=60z=604=15 candies

Solution:

30 candies to Patricia, 20 to Paula and 15 to Pablo.

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