Definition:

• Proportion refers to the equality between ratios.

• If and are two equal ratios, then the statement

is called a proportion.

• This proportion can also be expressed as:

• Each of the four numbers in a proportion is called a term of

the proportion.

a:bc:d

Definition:

• The first and fourth terms are called the extremes. The

second and third terms are called the means.

a:bc:d

extremes means

extremes

means

Fundamental Property of Proportion

• 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,

if a : b  c : d, then ad  bc ad bc

if 

,then 

Examples:

a)

where 1 and 16 are extremes and 2 and 8 are means

Remember the rule that "the product of the means equals the

product of the extremes“. Thus,

1: 2  8:16 16 16

2 8 1 16



Examples:

b)

where 9 and 27 are extremes and 3 and 81 are means

Remember the rule that “the cross product of the ratios must

be the same. Thus,

27

81

9


243 243

9 27 3 81



Using the Fundamental Property of Proportions,

check if the following are proportions:

a) b) c) d)

12

12

Fundamental Property of Proportion to solve for the

missing term

• We also use the Fundamental Property of Proportions to find

the missing term in a proportion as shown below.

• Given , we set cross products equal by having:

8 16

7n

7(2) 14

7(16) 8n  7(16)  n   

Example:

• Solve for n:

• Solution:

4

nn

11

2 22

5 3 10 12

5 10 3 12

5( 2) 3( 4)






n

nn

nn

nn

Solve the following simple proportions by thinking of

them as equations.

a) b) c) d)

10

5 10

2x

7 14

xn

n6

Fundamental Property of Proportion in Word

Problem Solving

Focusing Event:

Carlo, Danie, and Mia are going to share PhP18,000. Carlo

will receive ½ of what Mia’s going to receive, while Danie will get

¾ of what Mia is going to get. How much will each one receive?
Answer will be discussed later. 

Examples of Problems Involving Proportions

1. Eight tea bags are needed to make 5 liters of iced tea. How

many tea bags are needed to make 15 liters of iced tea?

Examples of Problems Involving Proportions

2. A manufacturer knows that during an average production run,

out of 1,000 items produced by a certain machine, 25 will be

defective. If the machine produces 2,030 items, how many

can be expected to be defective?

Examples of Problems Involving Proportions

3. If 1 out of 6 people buy a particular branded item, how many

people can be expected to buy this item in a community of

6,000 people?

Three (3) Types of Proportions

1. Direct Proportion - a number is directly proportionate to

another when as one value increase, so does the other.

2. Indirect/Inverse Proportion - a number is indirectly

proportionate to another when as one value increase, the

other decreases.

3. Partitive Proportion- involves identifying parts of a whole

based on a given ratio of these parts.

Direct Proportion

Two values x and y are directly proportional to each other

when x and y will either increase or decrease together, such that

when one increases, the other increases or when one

decreases, the other decreases as well.

Example: If three notebooks cost P15.00, how many notebooks

can you buy with P60.00?

Indirect Proportion
Two values x and y are inversely proportional to each other

such that if x increases, y decreases or if x decreases, y

increases.

Example: The lengths and widths of rectangles with the same

area. As the length of one side doubles, the width has to be

halved for the area to stay the same.

Partitive Proportion

Partitive Proportion is taking a whole divided into parts.

Example: When a partnership agreement stipulates an agreed

capitalization of P 100,000.00 and the partners are to divide the

said capitalization in the ratio of 1:2:2. Assuming the partners are

X, Y, and Z, what would be their contribution?

Other Examples

1. Two boxes of chocolates cost PhP180. How much do 7

boxes of chocolates cost?

2. Forty liters of water is transferred into 3 containers in the ratio

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

3. If Trina works 20 hours, she earns PhP600. How much does

she earn if she works 30 hours?

Other Examples

4. If nine men take 15 days to assemble 18 machines, how

many days will it take 20 men to assemble 60 machines?

5. Jessa buys three bananas for PHP25.00. How much does

she have to pay for a dozen of these bananas?

6. A typist can finish 4 pages in 6 minutes. How long will it take

him to finish 18 pages?

Other Examples

7. A menu which serves 5 people requires 3 cups of flour. How

many cups of flour are needed for the menu to serve 20

people?

8. To finish a certain job in 8 days, 6 workers are needed. If it is

required to finish the same job in 2 days advance, how many

workers have to work?

Other Examples

9. A supply of food lasts for a week for 20 families. How long

would the supply last if 3 more families have to be supplied?

10.A deceased person stated in his testament that his 30-

hectare land be divided among his three children using 1:2:3

partition, the oldest getting the biggest share. How much did

the second child receive?

Practice Items:

1. The ratio of cups of water to cups of sugar in a menu is

3:1:½. If this is just for one serving, how much of each is

needed for a menu that makes 5 servings?

2. A baker uses a ratio of 1 egg for every 4 cups of flour in a

certain recipe. If he/she uses a dozen eggs, how many cups

of our will he or she need?

Practice Items:

3. To produce a certain perfume, Eugene uses two basic

elements, A and B, and combine them in the ratio of 2:7. If he

has 91 parts of element B, how many parts of element A

should he use?

4. Janine and John share profits of their partnership in the ratio

2:3. If Janine's share in the profit for last year was P 30,000,

how much was John's share in the profit of the business?

Practice Items:

5. Jed and Ej decided that their profit and loss sharing ratio

should be equal to their initial capital investment. If Jed and

Ej had capital balances of P200,000.00 and P100,000.00

respectively, how much profit would EJ get if Jed got

P50,000.00 for last year?