Partitive Proportions

A partitive proportion of proportion by parts, describes

a total amount being distributed into two or more
unequal parts.
A nursery divides 360 acres of land into three sections to grow evergreen,
flowering and fruit trees in the ratio of 1:4:5. How many acres are used for
each type?
METHOD 1 Use an equation
1. Write an equation that relates the sum of the unequal parts to the whole.
Let m = the number of acres in each part.
Evergreen

plus

flowering

plus

fruit

equals

total acres

2. Then find the number of acres in each unequal part.

METHOD 2 Use separate proportions for each part-to-whole relationship.

1. Find the sum of the parts given in the ratio 1:4:5
1 + 4 + 5 = _____________.
2. Write and solve separate proportions for each part-to-whole relationship.
Define variables for each. Let a = evergreen trees, b = flowering trees, and c =
fruit trees.
EVERGREEN

Practice

FLOWERING

FRUIT

1. In an orchard of 1800 trees, there are peach, apple and pear trees
planted in the ratio of 7:3:2. How many trees of each kind are there?

2. Tonya mixed paints in a ratio of 4 parts red to 5 parts blue. She used
2

2
3

gal of red paint. Find the total number of gallons of paint and the

number of gallons of blue paint that she used.

3. The perimeter of a triangle is 91 centimeters. If the sides are in the

ratio 2 : 4 : 7, find the length of each side of the triangle.

4. The perimeter of an irregular trapezoid is 46 meters. If the sides are in

the ratio 2 : 3 : 5 : 1.5, find the length of each sides of the trapezoid.

5. Jack and Lea shared the driving during a trip across the country. For
every 150 miles that Lea drove, Jack drove 200 miles. If the total
driving distance was 2800 miles, how far did each person drive?

6. Suzanne owns a Farmville. For every 7 plots of soybeans she plants,

she plants 10 plots of corn. She plants 1020 plots in all. How many
plots of each crop does she plant?

7. Brandon and Marta are mowing a lawn. For every 4 square feet that
Brandon mows, Marta mows 9 square feet. The lawn is 5200 square
feet. How much lawn does each person mow?

8. Jeremy buys moving boxes for his dads company. His dad told him to
buy a total of 288 boxes and to buy 5 medium boxes for every 7 large
boxes. How many of each size box should he buy?

9. Chef Kim plans to serve a fruit plate to each of 336 diners at a

banquet. Each plate will contain 6 slices of kiwi, 3 pieces of mango,
and 5 strawberries. How many pieces of each fruit are needed?

10.
Three friends divided 156 baseball cards among themselves in a
ratio of 4 : 1 : 6. How many cards did each receive?
11.
A toy manufacturer made 1424 stuffed animals. They made
teddy bears, bunnies and dogs in the ratio of 8 : 5 : 3. How many of
each kind of stuffed animal did they make?

12.
The main library purchased 938 new books. They want to
distribute the new books to three of their branch libraries in ratio of 3 :
5 : 6. How many books will be given to each library?

13.
A card store ordered 520 cards. They ordered birthday cards,
anniversary cards and get well cards in the ratio of 6 : 3 : 1. How many
of each card did they order?

14.
At a nursery, there are 1248 flowers. There are roses, orchids,
and carnations in the ratio of 3 : 4 : 6. How many of each kind of
flower are there?

15. In

a local election, 2640 votes were cast for two candidates. Mr. Wayne
received 7 votes for every 4 votes that Mr. Edwards received. How
many votes did each candidate receive?