The ratio of doves to parrots in a cage is 1 to 2. if there are 6 doves and parrots altogether then how many parrots are there?

There would be 2 doves and 4 parrots.

2 + 4 = the 6 in total, and the ratio between doves (2) and parrots (4) is 1 to 2 because the ratio of 2 to 4 is equal to 1 to 2.

So the first thing we do is to multiply the top equation by 3. the reason i want to do this is i notice there will be a 6y on both equations and can possibly add/subtract them. so we get 6y = -3x + 27. adding that and the second equation we get 6x = 27-15 which is 12. divide by 6 and we get 2. ∴ x = 2. substituting 2 into the first equation we get 2y = -2 + 9 which is 7. divide by 2 and we get 7/2. ∴ y = 7/2, x = 2.