The constant of variation is the number that relates two variables that are directly proportional or inversely proportional to one another. But why is it called the constant of variation? This tutorial answers that question, so take a look!
Keywords:
definition
constant of variation
constant
variation
proportionality
constant of proportionality
Background Tutorials
Identify the constant of proportionality (unit rate) in tables, graphs, equations, diagrams, and verbal descriptions of proportional relationships.
Ever heard of two things being directly proportional? Well, a good example is speed and distance. The bigger your speed, the farther you'll go over a given time period. So as one variable goes up, the other goes up too, and that's the idea of direct proportionality. But you can express direct proportionality using equations, and that's an important thing to do in algebra. See how to do that in the tutorial!
Interpret parts of an expression, such as terms, factors, and coefficients.
Constants are parts of algebraic expressions that don't change. Check out this tutorial to see exactly what a constant looks like and why it doesn't change.
Further Exploration
Interpret and compute quotients of fractions, and solve word problems involving division of fractions by fractions, e.g., by using visual fraction models and equations to represent the problem.
Multiplicative inverses. That's a mouthful! Really, this term just refers to numbers that when multiplied together equal 1. These numbers are also called reciprocals of each other! Learn about multiplicative inverses by watching this tutorial.