Joint and Combined Proportion

• Direct proportion is described by y = kx.
• Indirect proportion is described by y = k/x.
• Joint proportion relates the product of two or more variables directly to a third.
• Combined variation mixes direct and indirect proportions.

Some real world situations use both direct proportion and

indirect proportion together. One example is given here
relating the number of phone calls to the size of populations
and their distance apart.

Notice that all the elements for proportion are present. The
number of calls varies directly with the populations, so they
multiply with the constant. The number of calls varies
indirectly with the distance, so it divides into the constant.

This example applies the general proportion developed above

to a specific situation.

The first task is to use known information to determine the

value of k.

The numbers in the equation are “reduced” by dividing both

sides of the equation by 10,000 and by canceling 100 from
the fraction.

Then all the calculations are performed to determine k.

The final step is to use k. It is substituted into the proportion

equation with the populations and distance for the situation
in which the number of calls is desired.

Then the calculations are performed to determine how many

calls can be expected between these two cities.

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