A pet shop always has 54 hamsters that are either solid- colored or multicolored in the front of the store for customers to see. Any additional hamsters are kept in an area at the back of the store. Which of the following ratios of solid-colored hamsters to multicolored hamsters is possible for the hamsters in the front of this pet shop?

Summary Submit Skip Question

The sum of the solid-colored and multicolored hamsters should add up to 54. Each ratio can be written as multiples of the ratios:

$$ 1:54 \implies x+54x=54 $$ $$ 2:7 \implies 2x+7x=54 $$ $$ 3:2 \implies 3x+2x=54 $$ $$ 6:1 \implies 6x+x=54 $$ $$ 6:9 \implies 6x+9x=54 $$

Out of these choices, only one results in an integer multiple:

$$ 2x+7x=54 $$ $$ 9x=54 $$ $$ x=6 $$