A ratio is a comparison of two quantities. If we consider two quantitites a and b, the ratio a:b indicates that there are a units of the first quantity for every b units of the second quantity.
a/b or a:b
Ratios occur in everyday life in countless scenarios. Let's see a few examples!
Scenario
Ratio Notation
Gasoline consumption when traveling by car
Miles per gallon = Miles traveled/Gallons of gasoline
Types of fruit in a bowl
Apples : Bananas
Rate of travel, according to the distance formula
Rate = Distance/Time
Demographics of a school classroom
Students who take the bus:Students who walk
We are given that twelve of the 28 students in a class own a dog. We want to find the ratio of students who own a dog to students who do not. To do so, we need to start by finding the number of students who do not own a dog by subtracting 12 from the total number of students.
28-12=16
There are 16 students in the class who do not own a dog. Now that we have this information, we can write the ratio of students who own a dog to students who do not.
12:16
