The ratio of the length of a rectangle to its width is 8 to 5. if the longer side of the rectangle is 20 ft, what is the length of its shorter side?

We can set up a proportion. The ratio of its length to width is 8 to 5. The longer side of the rectangle is 20 ft, or the length. So we have:



Cross multiply:





Divide 8 to both sides:



So the length of its shorter side(width) is 12.5 feet.