RATIO AND PROPORTION

Lesson outlines
 Expressing two or more quantities as a ratio
 Ratio of two variables in an equation
 Proportional ratios
 Proportional Divisions
 Introduction
Ratio is the comparison of two or more quantities of the same
kind or unit. For instance, it can be a comparison between boys
and girls in a class, animals, objects of same kind, etc.
Expressing two or more quantities as a ratio
To express two or more quantities as a ratio, we first ensure that the given
quantities are in the same unit after which we express the first quantity as a
fraction of the second quantity, and reduce the fraction obtained to the
simplest form.
WORK EXAMPLES:
In a class of 200 students, 40% are boys and the rest are girls. Find the ratio
of boys to girls.
 Solution
Total number of students
Percentage of boys
Number of boys
Number of girls
Ratio of boys to girls

Therefore the ratio of boys to girls is 2:3

 Example 2
In a swimming competition, Peter swam 600m whiles Gabriel
swam 2km. What is the ratio of Peter’s distance to that of Gabriel?
 Solution
To solve the above question, we have to make sure the units are the same. From the
question;
Peter swam 600m
Gabriel swam 2km
We change 2km to metres

Ratio of Peter’s distance to that of Gabriel’s

Therefore the ratio of Peter’s distance to that of Gabriel’s is 3:10

 Try

1. Romeo is 9 years older than Juliet. If Juliet is 18 years, find the

ratio of Juliet to Romeo.
2. A man withdrew $600 from his bank account. He gave half to
his first son, to the second son and the remaining to the last son.
Express the amount given to each son in the ratio in the order in
which they appear.
Express given quantities in the ratio of the form1:n
To express given quantities in the ratio of the form 1:n, where n is an
integer, we change the bigger unit to the smaller unit. Example
1. Express 20cm is to 15m in the form 1:n
Solution
We change
(
 Try
Express the following in the form 1:n and find n in each case.
i. 24p to 36 cedis
ii. 5g to 15kg
iii. 30 secs to 2.5 hours
 Finding ratio of two variables in an equation
To find the ratio of two variables in an equation, we try to solve
the equation after which you separate the variables to both sides of
the equation. The ratio is then obtained by reading from left to
right and from right to left. (Divide through the simplified
equation by the product of the coefficient of the variable that
is on the top and the variable at the denominator of the ratio)
WORK EXAMPLES:
If , find
 Solution
We factorize the equation

or
We want to express x on y, so we divide through the first equation by 5y and
second by 2y
or
or
 Example two
4find
solution

or
or
We want to express y on x, so we divide through the first equation by -4x and second by x
or
or
 Example 3
=1, find
Solution
=1

divide through by
 Exercise for practice
Express the following equations as the ratio of first variable to the second
variable.

1. =
 PROPORTIONAL RATIOS
Two ratios are said to be proportional, if they are equal.
Eg: Find the value of in the following ratios 6
Solution
` 6
 Try the following
Find the value of x in the following proportional ratios
1.
2.
3.
4.
5. The length of a side of two squares are 4cm and 6cm. Find the ratio of their
a. Perimeter
b. Area
6. If find
7. If , find
 Conversion between distance on a map and
distance on the ground
A map has a scale of If it has a distance of find the actual distance on the
ground.
Solution
if

therefore, on the ground

 Example 2
A map with a scale of 1cm to 10km has a portion of area 405c. Find the
actual area on the ground.
 Solution
From the question, the scale is 1cm = 10km
scale of the area will be
now, 405

Therefore, on the map is

 Example 3
A distance of 36km on the ground is represented by a line of 1.8cm on a
map. What is the scale of the map?
 Solution
From the question, 1.8cm :36km
but 100000cm = 1km
36km = 3600000cm
Now, we have to express the scale in the form 1:n
1.8cm :3600000cm

Therefore the scale is 1:2000000

 Exercise for practice
1. A map has a scale of 1cm: 5km. A country on the map measures
27cm by 18cm. Calculate the area of the country on the ground.
2. A distance of 15km on the ground is represented by a line of 1.5cm
on the a map. What is the scale on the map?
3. A map has a scale of 1cm: 10km. If an area on the map is 105c, what
is its equivalent on the ground.
4. A map has a scale of 1cm: 5km. If a town has an area of 14km by
20km on the ground, what is its representation on the map?
 PROPORTIONAL DIVISION
It is the concept of sharing something in a given ratio. To share something in
a given ratio, we identify the ratio of each individual item and express it on
the total ratio after which we multiply it by the total amount or quantity to be
shared.
Proportional division can be direct or indirect.
Direct Proportional Division
This is a type of division whereby an increase in one quantity leads to
increase in another quantity and vice versa.
Example
1. A green paint is mixed from blue and yellow paint in the ratio 3:5. How
much of each colour is needed to make 40l of this paint?
 Solution
From the question, ratio of blue paint to yellow paint is 3:5
blue = 3
yellow = 5
total ratio = 8
total quantity = 40
blue colour
yellow colour
Therefore, it requires 15 litres of blue paint and 25 litres of yellow paint
to make the 40 litres of green paint
 Example 2
A man divides his 360 cattle between his sons in the ratio 7:6:5. Find the
difference between the eldest son’s share and the youngest son’s share.
 Solution
From the question, the eldest son’s ratio = 7
the youngest son’s ratio = 5
total ratio =
eldest son’s share
youngest son’s share
the difference

Therefore, the difference between the eldest son’s share and the youngest
son’s share is 40 cattle.
 Example 3
A piece of wood is cut into 3 pieces in the ratio 5:4:3. If the length of the
shortest piece is 2cm, how long was the piece of wood?
Solution
From the question, the ratio of the shortest piece is 3 and it’s equal to
2cm.
let length of the wood which is equal to the total ratio of 12
thus

dividing ratio and ratio and length to length

divides through by 3
Therefore, the length of the piece of wood is 8cm
 Try
1. Wendy is 10 years old while Araba is 12 years old. If they
share $55 in the ratio of their ages, find how much will Araba
have more than Wendy.
2. The expenditure on roads, school and water supplied are in the
ratio 17:15:2. If the expenditure on roads is ¢2800, find the
expenditure on
i. School
ii. Water supply
iii. What is the budget for these three projects?
 Exercise for practice
1. A salesman can get a commission of ¢9 on sales of goods worth ¢150.
how much commission will he get on sales of goods worth ¢250
2. If 900kg of cereals are consumed by 50 students in a hostel in a month,
how many students will consume 2610kg of cereals within the same
month.
3. Akua can type 720 words in 45 minutes. How many words can she type
in 2
4. If 26 labourers can build tower of height 25.4m in a day, how many
labourers should be hired to build a tower of height 63.5m within the
same day.
 INDIRECT PROPORTION
It is a type of proportion between two or more quantities in which as one
quantity increases the other decreases and vice versa. This kind of proportion
usually involves the rate of time in doing same type of work by different
number of doers.
 Eg. If 15 boys can do a piece of work in 60 days, how many boys will be
required to complete the same work in 20 days?
 Solution
Let the number of boys required to do same piece of work in 20 days be
15 boys 60 days
x boys20 days (setting them into proportion, boys to
boys, and days to days)
since this is indirect ratio, we reverse one side of the ratio

NB: You can also used if more less divide principle.

 Example 2
In a certain school, it takes 500 students to consume a certain quantum of
food within 25 days. If 100 more students are added in the subsequent
semester, how many days will the same quantum of food last?
 Solution
From the question, 500 students = 25 days
Let ays 600 students will use
600 students setting them into proportion

For indirect proportion, we reverse one side of the ratio

days to the nearest day

 Try
5 boys used 90minutes to weed a given piece of land. How many
boys can weed the same piece of land within 2hours?
 Exercise for practice
1. A garrison of 400 men had food for 40 days. After 10 days, 200 men
joined them. How long will the same quantity of food last now?
2. A fort has enough food for 500 soldiers for 32 days. After 5 days, 50
soldiers left the fort. How long will the food last now.
3. If 6 men took 12 hours to weed a farm, how long will 9 men take to weed
the same farm with the same rate of work.
4. A hostel has enough food for 500 students for 18 days. How long will the
food last if half of the initial number of students join them.