Question

find the ratio of circles to triangles in the diagram below.
ratio of circles to triangles (without simplifying):

Explanation:

Step1: Count total number of circles

There are 3 rows of circles, with 3 circles per row.
$3 \times 3 = 9$

Step2: Count total number of triangles

There are 3 rows of triangles, with 5 triangles per row.
$3 \times 5 = 15$

Step3: Write the unsimplified ratio

The ratio of circles to triangles is the count of circles followed by the count of triangles.

Answer:

$9:15$