Curriculum
Course: Mathematics — First Preparatory
Login

Curriculum

Mathematics — First Preparatory

Text lesson

Ratio and Proportion

Mathematics — First Preparatory

Ratio and Proportion

Worked examples

Worked examples

Comparison aspectMain ideaKeywords
Example 1Simplify the ratio 36 : 48Simplifyratio
SolutionThe greatest common factor of 36 and 48 is 12. Divide both terms by 12: 36 ÷ 12 = 3 and 48 ÷ 12 = 4. The simplest form is 3 : 4greatestcommonfactorDivide
Example 2Find x if 3 : 4 = 9 : xFind
Solution
  • Product of extremes = product of means
  • so 3 × x = 4 × 9
  • which gives 3x = 36 and x = 12. Check: 3/4 = 9/12
  • which is true
Productextremesmeansgives
Example 3
  • Are 4
  • 10 and 15 in proportion in the order 4 : 6 = 10 : 15?
proportionorder
Solution
  • The product of the extremes is 4 × 15 = 60
  • and the product of the means is 6 × 10 = 60. They are equal
  • so the numbers are in proportion. Also 4/6 = 2/3 and 10/15 = 2/3
productextremesmeansequal
Example 4Find the mean proportional between 4 and 9Findmeanproportionalbetween
Comparison aspectMain ideaKeywords
Solution
  • Let the mean proportional be b. Then b² = 4 × 9 = 36
  • so b = 6
  • because the numbers are positive. Check: 4/6 = 6/9 = 2/3
meanproportionalThenbecause
Example 5 (the hardest)Two numbers are in the ratio 5 : 7 and their sum is 96. Find the two numbersnumbersratioFind
Solution
  • Let the numbers be 5k and 7k. Their sum is 12k = 96
  • so k = 8. The numbers are 5 × 8 = 40 and 7 × 8 = 56. Check: 40 + 56 = 96
  • and 40 : 56 = 5 : 7
numbersCheck
Ratio and Proportion · 4 / 6