Ratio

The ratio of two numbers a and b is the fraction , usually expressed in reduced form. An alternative form involves a colon. The colon form is most frequently used when comparing three or more numbers to each other. See Table 1 .
TABLE 1 Ratio Formats Ratio Written Form 3 to 4 a to b, b 0 1 to 3 to 5 3/4 or 3 : 4 a/b or a : b 1:3:5

Example 1: A classroom has 25 boys and 15 girls. What is the ratio of boys to girls?

The ratio of boys to girls is 5 to 3, or 5/3, or 5 : 3. Example 2: The ratio of two supplementary angles is 2 to 3. Find the measure of each angle.

The angles have measures of 72 and 108. 2 x to 3 x reduces to 2 to 3. 2 x + 3 x = 180 (The sum of supplementary angles is 180.) 5 x = 180 x = 36 Then, 2 x = 2(36) and 3 x = 3(36). So, 2 x = 72 and 3 x = 108

The angles have measures of 72 and 108. Example 3: A triangle has angle measures of 40, 50, and 90. In simplest form, what is the ratio of these angles to each other?

40 : 50 : 90 = 4 : 5 : 9 (10 is a common divisor)

This means that: 1. The ratio of the first to the second is 4 to 5. 2. The ratio of the first to the third is 4 to 9. 3. The ratio of the second to the third is 5 to 9. Example 4: A 50-inch segment is divided into three parts whose lengths have the ratio 2 : 3 : 5. What is the length of the longest part?

The longest part has a measure of 25 inches.

Proportion
A proportion is an equation stating that two ratios are equal.

Means and extremes

The extremes are the terms in a proportion that are the farthest apart when the proportion is written in colon form ( a:b = c:d). In the foregoing, a and d are extremes. The means are the two terms closest to each other.

In the preceding proportion, the values a and d are called extremes of the proportion; the values b and c are called the means of the proportion.

Percentage Increase

Example 10
The price of a calculator increases from $20 to $25. Express this increase as a percentage of the original price.

Solution:

Problem Solving
Example 11
20% of a certain number is 75. Find the number.

Solution:

So, the number is 375.

Example 12
A family spends 25 per cent of its income on mortgage repayments of $145 per week. Calculate the weekly income of the family.

Solution:
Let the family's weekly income be $x. We are given that 25% of x is 145.

So, the familys weekly income is $580.

Example 1: Ann works in a supermarket for $10.00 per hour. If her pay is increased to $12.00, then what is her percent increase in pay? Analysis: When finding the percent increase, we take the absolute value of the difference and divide it by the original value. The resulting decimal is then converted to a percent.

Solution:

Answer:

The percent increase in Ann's pay is 20%.

Let's look at an example of percent decrease.

Example 2: The staff at a company went from 40 to 29 employees. What is the percent decrease in staff? Analysis: When finding the percent decrease, we take the absolute value of the difference and divide it by the original value. The resulting decimal is then converted to a percent.

Solution:

Answer:

There was a 27.5% decrease in staff.

Percent increase and percent decrease are measures of percent change, which is the extent to which something gains or loses value. Percent changes are useful to help people understand changes in a value over time. Let's look at some more examples of percent increase and decrease. In Example 1, we divided by 10, which was the lower number. In Example 2, we divided by 40, which was the higher number. Students often get confused by this. Remember that the procedure above asked us to divide by the original value. Another way to remember the procedure is to subtract the old value from the new value and then divide by the old value. Convert the resulting decimal to a percent. The formula is shown below.

Exampl e 3:

At a supermarket, a certain item has increased from 75 cents per pound to 81 cents per pound. What is the percent increase in the cost of the item?

Solution :

Answer: There was an 8% increase in the cost of the item.

Exampl

Four feet are cut from a 12-foot board. What is the percent

e 4: Solution :

decrease in length?

Answer: There was a 33.3% decrease in length.

Summary:

Percent increase and percent decrease are measures of percent change, which is the extent to which something gains or loses value. Percent change is useful to help people understand changes in a value over time. The formula for finding percent change is: