### Instruction: There are two positive numbers in the ratio 5:8. If the larger number exceeds the smaller by 18, then find the smaller number?
Answer Choices: (A) 30 (B) 66 (C) 77 (D) 88 (E) 44.### Response: Let's reason about the multi-choice question.
Let the two positive numbers be 5x and 8x respectively.
8x - 5x = 18
3x = 18 => x = 6
=> Smaller number = 5x = 30.
The answer is A