If the 5 of them weigh 1/4 of a ton
then 1 of them weigh x
5/1 = 1/4//x Do you see what happens? Just by writing down the givens you get a proportion. It will work better for you if you change the 1/4 to 0.25
5/1 = 0.25/x Now it looks like an ordinary proportion. Cross multiply
5x = 0.25*1 divide by 5
x = 0.25/5
x = 0.05 tons. We better change this to pounds.
1 ton = 2000 pounds
0.05 ton = x
1/0.05 = 2000/x Cross multiply
x = 2000 * 0.05
x = 100 pounds.
