What's the Means-Extremes Property of Proportions?

What's the Means-Extremes Property of Proportions?

Note:

The means-extremes property of proportions allows you to cross multiply, taking the product of the means and setting them equal to the product of the extremes. This property comes in handy when you're trying to solve a proportion. Watch this tutorial to learn more!

Keywords:

  • definition
  • means extremes
  • means extremes property
  • proportion
  • cross multiply
  • cross-multiply

Background Tutorials

  • Solve real-world and mathematical problems by writing and solving equations of the form x + p = q and px = q for cases in which p, q and x are all nonnegative rational numbers.

      • What's the Multiplication Property of Equality?What's the Multiplication Property of Equality?

      What's the Multiplication Property of Equality?

      Solving equations can be tough, especially if you've forgotten or have trouble understanding the tools at your disposal. One of those tools is the multiplication property of equality, and it lets you multiply both sides of an equation by the same number. Watch the video to see it in action!

  • Decide whether two quantities are in a proportional relationship, e.g., by testing for equivalent ratios in a table or graphing on a coordinate plane and observing whether the graph is a straight line through the origin.

      • What's a Proportion?What's a Proportion?

      What's a Proportion?

      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!

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

      • What are the Means and Extremes of Proportions?What are the Means and Extremes of Proportions?

      What are the Means and Extremes of Proportions?

      A proportion is just an equation where two ratios are equal, and each piece of the proportion has a special name. This tutorial will teach you those names, and this will help you understand cross multiplication when you learn it later!

Further Exploration

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