Ratios & Ratio Notation

Page 1

A ratio is a proportional relationship between two numbers.

For example, if I were to say that the ratio of French students to German students in a class is 4 to 3, this means that for every 4 French students in the class, there are 3 German students.

Ratios can be written in 3 ways:

2. Odds notation:

- X:Y

- Most common ratio format

3. Fractional notation:

- X/Y

- Useful for solving algebraic problems involving ratios.

1. Verbal Notation:

- X to Y

- How ratios are spoken of

Note that ratios don't give us the value of the numbers themselves, just the relationship between the numbers.

New Page