RATIO

AND
PROPORTION
RATIO
A ratio is a comparison of two quantities by
division. A ratio a is to b between two numbers
means that for every a units of the first number,
there correspond b units of the second number.
The numbers a and b are called the terms of a
ratio.
The ratio of a to b can be written in two ways:
as a:b (odds notation), where the symbol “:” is
read as “is to”; or , b (fractional notation)
 In the following rectangles, the ratio of
shaded area to unshaded area is 1:2, 2:4,
3:6, and 4:8. All the rectangles have
equivalent shaded areas. Ratios that make
the same comparison are equivalent
ratios.
 How to Use Ratios?

The ratio of boys and girls in the class is 12 to11.

(This means, for every 12 boys you can
find 11 girls to match.)

 There could be just 12 boys, 11 girls.

 There could be 24 boys, 22 girls.
 There could be 120 boys, 110 girls…a huge
class
 The ratio of length and width of this
rectangle is 4 to 1. What is the ratio if
the rectangle is 8cm long and 2cm
wide?Still 4 to 1, because for every
4cm, you can find 1cm to match.
4cm

1cm

The ratio of cats and dogs at my home is

2 to 1.
 How to simplify ratios?
Now I tell you I have 12 cats and 6 dogs.
Can you simplify the ratio of cats and
dogs to 2 to 1?
12 12 / 6 2
= =
6 6/6 1
Divide both numerator and
denominator by their
Greatest Common Factor 6.
A person’s arm is 80cm, he is 2m tall.
Find the ratio of the length of his arm to his total
height
To compare them, we need to convert both
numbers into the same unit …either cm or
m.

• Let’s try cm first!

arm 80cm 80cm Once we have the

height   same units, we can

simplify them.
2m 200cm
 80  2
200 5
• Let’s try m now!

Once we
arm 80cm 0.8m have

  the
same

height 2m 2m units,
they
simplify
to 1.
8 2
 
20 5
To make both numbers
integers, we multiplied both
numerator and denominator by
10
If the numerator and denominator do not
have the same units it may be easier to
convert to the smaller unit so we don’t have to
work with decimals…
3cm/12m = 3cm/1200cm = 1/400

2kg/15g = 2000g/15g = 400/3

5ft/70in = (5*12)in / 70 in = 60in/70in = 6/7

2g/8g =
1/4
Of course, if they are already in the
same units, we don’t have to worry
about converting
RATE

A rate is a ratio that compares

quantities of different units. It is a
ration with different units in the
numerator and denominator. A unit
rate is a rate that has a denominator of
1; that is, a rate for one unit of a given
quantity. Rates are usually expressed in
the fractional form.
 Example:

If you drive 120 km in 2 hours, then your rate

can be expressed as the ratio of kilometers to
hours; that is,

Your unit rate is or 60 km/hr. (This is your

average rate.)
PROPORTION

A statement that two ratios are equal is

called a proportion.

If and are two equal ratios, then the

statement = is called a proportion.

Each of the four numbers in a proportion is

called a term of the proportion.
From = , a is the first term; b the

second term; c the third term; and d the

fourth term. The first and fourth terms are
called the extremes. The second and third
terms are called the means.
A proportion can also be denoted by a:b
= c:d, read as “a is to b as c is to d. In
here, the outer terms, a and d are called
extremes; while the middle terms, b and
c, are called the means. In this
representation of a proportion, the
product of the means is equals the
product of the extremes, that is bc=ad.
 Fundamental Property of Proportion

3 6

2 4 Cross Product Property

2x6=12 3x4 = 12
In any proportion, the product
of the means is equal to the
product of the extremes. That
is, the cross products of the
terms are equal. In symbols,
a c
 ad = bc
b d means

extremes
 Example 1:

7 x Solve for x:

2 6
7(6) = 2x Cross Product
Property
42 = 2x
21 = x
 Example 2:

If your car gets 30 miles/gallon, how many

gallons of gas do you need to commute to school
everyday?

5 miles to home

5 miles to school

Let x be the number gallons we need for a

day: Can you solve it
30miles (5  5)miles 30 10 from here?
 
1gal x _ gal 1 x
1
x= 3 Gal
 5 miles to home

5 miles to school

So you use up 1/3 gallon a day. How many gallons would

you use for a week?

Let t be the number of gallons we need for a

week:
1/ 3 t
1 / 3gal t _ gal


1day 5days 1 5

1 t 5
 1(5)  3t t  Gal
3 5 3
So you use up 5/3 gallons a week (which is about 1.67
gallons). Consider if the price of gas is 3.69
dollars/gal, how much would it cost for a week?

Let s be the sum of cost for a week:

3.69dollars

s _ dollars 3.69 s
1gallon 1.67 gallons

1 1.67
3.69(1.67) = 1s s = 6.16 dollars

5 miles to home

5 miles to school
 Types of proportion (VARIATION)

DIRECT PROPORTION

INDIRECT/INVERSE PROPORTION

PARTITIVE PROPORTION
 Direct Proportion

Two quantities are directly proportional if

an increase in one quantity corresponds to a
constant increase in the other quantity, or if a
decrease in one quantity corresponds to a
constant decrease in the other quantity. That is
the variable y is said to be directly proportional
to x if there is a nonzero constant k for which y
= kx. The constant k is called the constant of
proportionality (or the proportionality
constant). When y is directly proportional to x,
we also say that y varies directly to x.
 Example:

The number of cars (c) produced by a plant in a month

is directly proportional to the number of machines (m)
which are deployed in the plant. Suppose that the plant
produces 12 cars in a month when there are 3
machines.
 Express the relationship between c and m as an
equation. What is the constant of proportionality?
 How many cars will be produced if there are 4
machines?
 How many machines well be needed to produce 20
cars per month?
 SOLUTION

 Let k be the constant of proportionality. Then we can write the equation

relating m and c as c=km. since m=3 when c=12, 12=k(3) ----- k=12/3--
--- k=4. Substituting this value to our equation, we obtain that c and m
are related by the equation c=4m.
 In this case, we need the value of c when m = 4. Substituting to our
equation give: c = 4m ---- c = 4 (4) ---- c = 16
 Here we need the value of m when c = 20. Using our equation again, we
have: c = 4m ---- 20 = 4m ---- 20/4 = m ---- 5 = m

 Notice that we can solve for constant of proportionality k in the equation

y=kx to obtain y=k/x. This means that if y is directly proportional to x,
then the ration of y to x remains constant. That is, if y1 corresponds to x1
and y2 corresponds to x2, respectively, then we can write their
relationship as the proportion y1/x1 = y2/x2.
INDIRECT/INVERSE PROPORTION

Inverse proportion is when one value increase

as the other value decreases. If one quantity is
inversely proportional to another, it changes in
the opposite way as it increases the other
decreases.
 An example of a model for inverse
variation is t  200. This says that
r
the time (in hours) to complete a 200
miles trip varies inversely as the rate
(in miles per hour). The constant k is
200. It is easy to understand, that as
the rate increases, the time decreases.
The format for inverse variation is
k
. y
x
In inverse variation, as long as the
constant k is positive, then as x
increases, y decreases and vice-versa.
Inverse Variation:
If a situation is described by an equation of the
form
k
y ,
x
where k is a nonzero constant, we say that y varies
inversely as x or y is inversely proportional to x.
The number k is called the constant of
variation/proportionality.
 Example

The price per square meter (p) of land zoned for

business is inversely proportional to its distance (d) to
the center of town. Suppose that a piece of land is
1.5km from the center of town costs P30,000 per
square meter.

 Write an equation relating p and d. what is the

constant of proportionality?
 How much per square meter would a piece of land
2.25km from the center of town cost?
 SOLUTION

 Since p and d are inversely proportional, we have p = k/d, where k is

the constant of proportionality. Because p = 30,000 when d = 1.5,
substituting gives:
30,000 = k/1.5
30,000(1.5) = k
45,000 = k
Thus, p and d are related by the equation p = 45,000/d

 Here we need the calue of p when d = 2.5. to do thism we simply

substitute d = 2.5 and k = 45,000 into the resulting equation of
proportionality:
p = 45,000/2.5
p = 18,000

Thus, it costs P18,000 per square meter for land 2.5km away from
the center of town.
 PARTITIVE PROPORTION

 In a partitive proportion, we wish to divide a total

amount into two or more terms which satisfy a given
ratio. To determine the amount for each term. We
can write down the fraction that each term
represents in relation to the whole. These fractions
can then be multiplied to the total amount to obtain
the corresponding quantity for each term.
 Example

 Forty liters of water is transferred into 3 containers in the

ratio 1:3:4. How much water is in each container?

Solution:
The ratio 1:3:4 indicates 1 + 3 + 4 = 8 portions. 40 liters
will be divided into 8 portions; that is, = 5 liters (L) per
portion.
 Container 1 (1 portion) = 1 x 5 L = 5 L in it.
 Container 2 (3 portions) = 3 x 5 L = 15 L in it.
 Container 3 (4 portions) = 4 x 5 L = 20 L in it.
The two windows below are similar. Find
the unknown width of the larger window.
These two buildings are similar. Find the height of
the large building.
 Exercises

Mika can eat 21 hot dogs in 66 minutes. She wants to

know how many minutes it would take her to eat 35
hot dogs if she can keep up the same pace.
A recipe for oatmeal cookies calls for 2 cups of flour for
every 3 cups of oatmeal. How much flour is needed for
a big batch of cookies that uses 9 cups of
oatmeal? Created by Sal Khan and Monterey Institute
for Technology and Education.
 The pressure in a piston is 2.0 atm at 25°C and the
volume is 4.0L. If the pressure is increased to 6.0
atm at the same temperature, what will be the
volume?
 A machine in a softdrinks factory fills 680 bottles in
5 hours. How many bottles will it fill in 3 hrs?