BUSINESS MATHEMATICS

Dr. Addial Manjonjo

21st September, 2022

1 / 29
Ratios
In this Lecture we will cover:
I Ratio
I Proportions

2 / 29
Ratio
A ratio is a way of comparing two numbers

I Suppose the length of a rectangle is 20cm and the width is 12

cm.
I Then the ratio of the length to width for this rectangle is
written as
20 to 12
I A ratio of these numbers can be written in the following ways:
a) 20 to 12
b) 20 : 12
20
c) 12

3 / 29
I Notice in the above example the units of length and width are
the same, thus the ratio 20 : 12 is
20
cm
 20
=
12
cm
 12
I As you can see if the quantities have the same units, the ratio
has no units.
I
I The fraction 20 10 5
12 is equivalent to the fractions 6 and 3 . This
means that the following ratios are equivalent as well
20 : 12, 10 : 6, and 5 : 3
I In others words the ratio of length to width in lowest terms is
5 : 3.

4 / 29
Lowest terms
A ratio is in lowest terms is its of the form
a:b
where a and b are whole numbers and they have no common factor
other than 1.
The fraction 35 is not equivalent to the fraction 53 . Therefore the
ratio 5 : 3 is not equivalent to the ratio 3 : 5.

5 / 29
Example
Express the following ratio in lowest terms
1 1 2 8
a) 4 : 12 b) 2.5 : 6.35 c) 2 : 3 d) 3 : 9

Solution:
a)
4 1
4 : 12 = = =1:3
12 3

6 / 29
Solution(continued):
b)
50
2.5 250 50
2.5 : 6.35 = = = = 50 : 127
6.35 127635 127
c)
1
1 1 2 1 1 1 3 3
: = 1 = ÷ = × = =3:2
2 3 3
2 3 2 1 2
d)
2 8 2 8 2 9 18 3
: = ÷ = × = = =3:4
3 9 3 9 3 8 24 4
7 / 29
Example
A class has 12 boys and 16 girls.
a) Find the ratio of
i) boys to girls ii) girls to boys

b) What fraction of the pupils are

i) boys ii) girls

8 / 29
Solution:
12 3
a) i) boys : girls = 12 : 16 = 16 = 4
=3:4
ii) girls : boys = 16 : 12 = 4 : 3
b) Since the total parts making this ratio are 3 + 4 = 7. The number
of boys as fraction of the whole class is
3 3
=
3+4 7
Similarly for girls we have
4 4
=
3+4 7

9 / 29
Ratios are restricted to 2 quantities only. It possible to have ratios
of 3 or more quantities.
Example
In Business Math class there are 12 IT students, 15 Accounting
students and 24 Business Management students. Find the ratio of
IT students : Accounting students: Business Management students.

10 / 29
Solution:
This ratio is given by
12 : 15 : 24
We can find the ratio in lowest terms by dividing throughout by
the highest common factor of the numbers involved. Thus in
this case the ratio in lowest terms is found by dividing through-
out by 3
4:5:8

11 / 29
Example
Four siblings Ava, Bob, Cal and Deb share R13320 according to the
following ratio 5 : 4 : 4 : 2 respectively.
a) How much money does each sibling receive?
b) If Ava and Deb are girls and Bob and Cal are boys, what is the
ratio of the money the girls received to the money the boys
received.

12 / 29
Solution:
a) The total numbers of parts making up this ratio is
5 + 4 + 4 + 2 = 15. Therefore,
5 4
Ava : × 13320 = R4440, Bob : × 13320= R3552
15 15
4 2
Cal : × 13320 = R3552, Deb : × 13320= R1776
15 15
b) adding the parts or the ratio for the girls we have
5 + 2 = 7. Similarly for the boys we have 4 + 4 = 8.
Therefore the ratio of amounts received by girls to
amounts received by boys is 7 : 8.

13 / 29
I If the two quantities being compared have different units then
the ratio is called a rate.
I Rates are usually written in the form “one quantity per unit
another quantity”.
I For example, kilograms per cubic meter(km/m3 ), kilometres
per hour (km/hr), Rands per kilogram (Rands/kg)

14 / 29
Example
A car travels for 100km in an hour, what is the ratio of distance to
time for this car

Solution:
This ratio is given by
100km
= 100km/hour
1hour

15 / 29
Example
Ten tons of maize cost R37 000. What is the ratio of price to
weight for maize

Solution:
This ratio is given by
R37000
= R3700/ton
10 tons

16 / 29
Example
A car is driven 200 km on 40 litres of petrol.
a) What is the rate in kilometres per litre?
b) What is the rate in litres per kilometre?

Solution:
a) This rate is given by
200km
= 5 km/litre
40litres
a) This rate is given by
40km
= 0.2 litres/km
200litres

17 / 29
Example
A proportion is the statement that two ratios are equal.
For example the ratios 5 : 3 and 10 : 6 represent the same ratio
therefore they are said to be proportional. Away of determining if
a proportion is true is to use cross multiplication
Cross product
a c
The proportion b = d is true if the following equality is true.
a·d =b·c

18 / 29
Example
Determine whether the following ratios are proportional.
3 12 3.2 0.16
a) 4 and 16 b) 4.8 and 0.48

c) 4 32 : 5 12 and 8 78 : 16 31

Solution(continued):
a) By cross multiplying we have
3 × 16 = 48 and 4 × 12 = 48
Therefore 4 and 12
3
16 are proportional.

19 / 29
Solution(continued):
b) By cross multiplying we have
3.2 × 0.48 = 1.536 and 4.8 × 0.16 = 0.768
Therefore the proportion 3.2 0.16
4.8 = 0.48 is not true.
c) Writing the ratios as fractions we have
4 23 8 78
and
5 12 16 13

20 / 29
Solution(continued):
By cross multiplying we have
2 1 14 49 686
4 × 16 = × =
3 3 3 3 9
and
1 7 11 71 781
5 ×8 = × =
2 8 2 8 16
Since 9 6= 16 , the ratios 4 3 : 5 2 and 8 78 : 16 13 are not
686 781 2 1

proportional

21 / 29
Example
Find x if the following proportions are true

a) b) c)
x 4 9 x 4 23 14
= = =
6 3 15 20 5 12 x

Solution:
a) By first finding the cross product we have
x 4
=
6 3
3x = 24
=⇒ x = 8

22 / 29
Solution(continued):
b)
9 x
=
15 20
=⇒ 9 · 20 = 15x
180 = 15x
=⇒ x = 12

23 / 29
Solution(continued):
c)
4 23 14
=
5 12 x
2 1
=⇒ 4 · x = 14 · 5
3 2
14 11
x = 14 ·
3 2
11 3
x = 14 · ·
2 14
33 1
= = 16
2 2

24 / 29
Example
1. In a bag, there are a certain number of toy-blocks with alphabets A, B,
C and D written on them. The ratio of blocks A:B:C:D is in the ratio
4:7:3:1. If the number of ‘A’ blocks is 50 more than the number of ‘C’
blocks, what is the number of ‘B’ blocks?
2. In a mixture of 45 litres, the ratio of sugar solution to salt solution is
1:2. What is the amount of sugar solution to be added if the ratio has
to be 2:1?
3. If x : y = 1 : 2, find the value of (2x + 3y ) : (x + 4y )

25 / 29
Solution:
1. Let the numbers of toy blocks for A,B,C and D be
4x, 7x, 3x and x, respectively. Number of ‘A’ blocks is
50 more than ‘C’, therefore,
4x = 3x + 50
=⇒ x = 50
Therefore the number of ‘B’ blocks is 7x = 7(50) = 350

26 / 29
Solution(continued):
2. The respective amount of solutions are given by
1 2
sugar solution = × 45 = 15 salt solution = × 45 = 30
3 3
Let the amount of sugar solution to be added be x.
Therefore we have,
(15 + x) : 30 = 2 : 1

27 / 29
Solution(continued):
Thus we have,
15 + x 2
=
30 1
15 + x = 60
x = 45
Therefore the amount of sugar solution to be added is 45
litres.

28 / 29
Solution:
3. Since x : y = 1 : 2, we have
x 1
=
y 2
2x = y
We now replace every instance of y with 2x. Therefore,
2x + 3y 2x + 3(2x) 8x
= =
x + 4y x + 4(2x) 9x
8
=
9

29 / 29