What's a Proportion?

What's a Proportion?

Note:

The idea of proportions is that a ratio can be written in many ways and still be equal to the same value. That's why proportions are actually equations with equal ratios. This is a bit of a tricky definition, so make sure to watch the tutorial!

Keywords:

  • definition
  • proportion
  • ratios
  • ratio
  • equality
  • fraction

Background Tutorials

  • Understand the concept of a ratio and use ratio language to describe a ratio relationship between two quantities.

      • What's a Ratio?What's a Ratio?

      What's a Ratio?

      Ratios are everywhere! The scale on a map or blueprint is a ratio. Ingredients sometimes need to be mixed using ratios such as the ratio of water to cement mix when making cement. Watch this tutorial to learn about ratios. Then think of some ratios you've encountered before!

  • Make tables of equivalent ratios relating quantities with whole-number measurements, find missing values in the tables, and plot the pairs of values on the coordinate plane. Use tables to compare ratios.

      • What are Equivalent Ratios?What are Equivalent Ratios?

      What are Equivalent Ratios?

      Equivalent ratios are just like equivalent fractions. If two ratios have the same value, then they are equivalent, even though they may look very different! In this tutorial, take a look at equivalent ratios and learn how to tell if you have equivalent ratios.

  • Understand solving an equation or inequality as a process of answering a question: which values from a specified set, if any, make the equation or inequality true? Use substitution to determine whether a given number in a specified set makes an equation or inequality true.

      • What is an Equation?What is an Equation?

      What is an Equation?

      In order to tackle the challenging topics, you first need to know the basics. Equations are the start of some very fun and challenging math problems. Watch this tutorial to learn about equations!

Further Exploration

  • Use proportional relationships to solve multistep ratio and percent problems.