A gear wheel having 84 teeth is in mesh with a 24-tooth gear. Determine the gear ratio in        its simplest form.a.7:2       b 2:5      C. 5:7          D 2:3

The gear ratio is determined by dividing the number of teeth on the larger gear by the number of teeth on the smaller gear.

Step 1: Identify the number of teeth on each gear. In this case, the larger gear has 84 teeth and the smaller gear has 24 teeth.

Step 2: Divide the number of teeth on the larger gear by the number of teeth on the smaller gear.

84 ÷ 24 = 3.5

However, gear ratios are typically expressed as whole numbers. To convert this decimal to a fraction, we can think of 3.5 as 3 1/2, which simplifies to 7/2 when expressed as an improper fraction.

So, the gear ratio in its simplest form is 7:2. Therefore, the correct answer is a. 7:2.