Ratio:
In a group of people, there are 20 men and 25 women then the ratio of men to women is 20/25. Here since the word men came first its number 20 came first. If the ratio is women to men then the corresponding ratio is 25/20. So, while writing a ratio the order of the terms is very important.
Mathematically ratio is nothing but a fraction.
The ratio of two terms a and b is usually denoted by a/b or a:b.
Proportion:
The ratio is just the comparison of one thing to the other thing. It is a mathematical statement or an expression. But a proportion is an equation where two ratios are equal.
A proportion is a mathematical equation where two ratios are set equal to each other. When two ratios are set to equal to each other, then the equation thus obtained is used to solve any missing part in the equation. For example, the ratio 4/8 is equivalent to 1/2. If we write the equation,
x/8 = 1/2, here since we know that 4/8 is equivalent to 1/2 we can easily say that x=4.
Proportion is used to solve some real life problems one of such an example is given below.
Problem:
The ratio of number of parrots to number of sparrows in a birds park is 12 to 5. If the total number of sparrows is 35 then what is the total number of parrots in the park?
Solution:
Parrots : sparrows = 12:5
Let ‘x’ be the total number of parrots.
From the given problem,
12/5 = x/35
Multiplying both sides by 25,
x = 12/5 * 35 = 84.
So, there are 84 parrots in the park.
Note:
The ratio is just the comparison of one thing to the other thing. It is a mathematical statement or an expression. But a proportion is an equation where two ratios are equal.
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