If the ratio of sweet snacks to salty snacks in a vending machine is 1:3, how many types of sweet snacks are there?

To determine the number of types of sweet snacks in a vending machine based on the given ratio of sweet snacks to salty snacks (1:3), it's essential to understand the nature of ratios. In a ratio of 1:3, the first number (1) represents the part of sweet snacks, while the second number (3) represents the part of salty snacks. This indicates that for every 1 type of sweet snack, there are 3 types of salty snacks.

When analyzing the total parts represented in this ratio, they sum up to 4 parts (1 part sweet and 3 parts salty). The fact that sweet snacks constitute one part of this overall ratio shows that there is indeed 1 type of sweet snack relative to the 3 types of salty snacks. Therefore, with the given distribution, the conclusion is that there is 1 type of sweet snack in the vending machine.

Hence, the correct understanding of the ratio confirms that the number of types of sweet snacks is accurately represented as 1.