Information AboutRatios |
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A ratio is a Quantity that denotes the Proportional amount or magnitude of one quantity relative to another. DEFINITIONS AND NOTATION Ratios are Unitless when they relate quantities of the same Dimension . When the two quantities being compared are of different types, the units are the first quantity "per" unit of the second — for example, a speed or Velocity can be expressed in "miles per hour". If the second unit is a measure of time, we call this type of ratio a rate. '' Fraction s'' and '' Percentage s'' are both specific applications of ratios. Fractions relate the part (the numerator) to the whole (the denominator) while percentages indicate parts per 100. A ratio can be written as two numbers separated by a like regular fractions). In this case, 2/5 or 40% of the fruit are apples and 3/5 or 60% are oranges in the basket. Note that in the previous example the proportion of apples in the basket is 2/5 ("two of five" fruits, "two out of five" fruits, "two fifths" of the fruits, or 40% of the fruits). Thus a proportion compares part to whole instead of part to part. Throughout the Physical Science s, ratios of physical quantities are treated as Real Number s. For example, the ratio of Metre s to 1 metre (say, the ratio of the circumference of a certain Circle to its radius) is the real number . That is, m/1m = . Accordingly, the classical definition of Measurement is the estimation of a ratio between a quantity and a unit of the same kind of quantity. (See also the article on Commensurability In Mathematics .) In Algebra , two quantities having a '' Constant ratio'' are in a special kind of Linear relationship called Proportionality . RATIOS AND FRACTIONS A ratio is a general method of comparing any two numbers in a multiplicative sense. A fraction is an example of a specific type of ratio, in which the two numbers are related in a part-to-whole relationship. (1 ) In some cases, the value of a ratio is the same as the corresponding fraction. For example, if we have 3 apples and 6 oranges, the ratio of apples to oranges is 1:2. However, the ratio of apples to pieces of fruit is 1:3, which is equivalent to the fraction of apples in the fruit, 1/3. MORE EXAMPLES
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