Clint prepares and sells trail mix at his store. this week, he uses 3/8 of his supply of raisins to make regular trail mix and 1/4 of his supply to make spicy trail mix. if clint uses 20 pounds of raisins this week, how many pounds of raisins did he have at the beginning of the week?

To find the total amount of raisins that Clint had to begin the week, first add the two amounts that he used together by setting both as common denominators (in this case, eighths). (3/8 + 2/8) is (5/8). Second, set this value as an equivalent ratio to the amount of raisins that Clint has now to the amount he began the week with. (5/8 = 20/x). Since we see that 5 is four times less than 20, we know that 8 is four times less than the amount of raisins at the beginning of the week, which would then be 32 pounds.