Integrated Algebra Chapter 4: Ratios, Rates, and Proportions

Ratios, Rates, and Proportions

4. 1 Ratios

1) If Sachem North TV has 36 members, and 18 of them are girls, what is the ratio of girls
to the total membership of the club?

18 girls 18 1
= =
36 members 36 2
As you can see this relationship can be represented as a fraction, which simplifies to one-half.

A fraction, such as the one above is a type of ratio.

What is a ratio? A ratio is a comparison of two quantities measured in the same units.

The ratio of a to b can be written in three main ways:

𝒂
𝒂: 𝒃 "𝒂 𝐭𝐨 𝒃"
𝒃
Provided that 𝑏 ≠ 0

4.2 Rates

The Difference between a ratio and a rate are that ratios are measured in the same units, while a
rate describes one unit with respect to another. The example above is a ratio between members in
a group.

The speed limit on the highway for example is read (in the United States) in mph or “Miles per
Hour.” Also the New York State minimum wage is $7.15 per hour. These quantitative
representations are examples of rates.

2) Cycling the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong travels 9 miles in twenty minutes. At this
rate, in miles per hour, how fast is he traveling?

Hint: How many minutes are in an hour? Sixty.

𝟗 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝒙 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬
= → 𝒙 𝐦𝐩𝐡
𝟐𝟎 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝟔𝟎 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬

Mr. Smith 1 Sachem High School North

Integrated Algebra Chapter 4: Ratios, Rates, and Proportions

4.3 Ratios and Variables

The next point I would like to mention is that (and this is shown in the previous example) the
ratio between two quantities does not necessarily mean that those are the actual amounts.

If we were to say that Charlie and Paul are co-workers, and that the ratio of Charlie’s age to
Paul’s age is 3:2, this does not mean that Paul is 2 years old!

Paul could be 32 years old, making Charlie’s age 48.

In short, a ratio is only the relationship between the quantities, (usually in simplest form).

3) If two angles are supplementary and the ratio of m<1:m<2 is 1:8 then what is the
measure of each angle?

Let: m<1 = 1x

m<2 = 8x

m<1 + m<2 = 180  1x + 8x = 180

1 2
9x = 180

x = 20

What is the Measure of angle 1? _______________.

What is the Measure of angle 2? _______________.

Quick Review:

4) The Sum of 3 numbers is 100. If the ratio between these numbers is 4:6:10, then what are
the numbers?

Mr. Smith 2 Sachem High School North

Integrated Algebra Chapter 4: Ratios, Rates, and Proportions

Quick Review (Continued):

5) The lengths of two opposite sides of a square are tripled, while the other sides remain the
same. What is the ratio of the Perimeter of this new Rectangle to the Perimeter of the
original square?

6) In order to travel back to the year 1985, Marty is told that he must
𝟕
bring his time traveling car up to a speed of 𝟏 𝟏𝟓 miles per
minute. Unfortunately, his odometer (speed gauge) only reads
miles per hour. To what speed in mph must Marty bring his car?

Mr. Smith 3 Sachem High School North

Integrated Algebra Chapter 4: Ratios, Rates, and Proportions

4.4 Proportions

A proportion is in short an equation between ratios or rates.

2 1
Proportions can show a few different things. The Equation = 4 is a true equation, because
8
picture this: We have a Pizza Pie (divided into 8 slices); if I eat 2 of the slices, I have eaten a
quarter of the pie.

Now if we look at this in algebraic terms, we have a

different way to describe and explain this equality.
𝑎 𝑐
The proportion = can be read as:
𝑏 𝑑

“a is to b as c is to d.”

This can also be written as:

𝑎: 𝑏 = 𝑐: 𝑑
The two inside terms, b and c are known as the means.

While the two outer terms, a and d are called the extremes.

Why are these terms and concepts important?

Because: “The Product of the means is equal to the product of the extremes.”

This fact establishes our procedure to solve these problems: to Cross Multiply.
𝒂 𝒄
= → 𝒂∙𝒅=𝒃∙𝒄
𝒃 𝒅

With this in mind, we go back to our pizza example:

𝟏 𝟐
= → 𝟏 ∙ 𝟖 = 𝟐 ∙ 𝟒 → 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐞, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝟖 = 𝟖
𝟒 𝟖

Mr. Smith 4 Sachem High School North

Integrated Algebra Chapter 4: Ratios, Rates, and Proportions

With this procedure in mind let’s practice

Solve for x:

2 𝑥
7) = 14
7

𝑥 28
8) =
3 4

24 6
9) =
𝑥 2

33 66
10) =
7 𝑥

Now let’s try looking at some word problems involving proportions.

11) Roughly one in every four crimes in the United States is alcohol or drug related. If last
month there were 308 crimes reported to the Suffolk County Police Department, what is a
good approximation for the amount of crimes influenced by drugs and alcohol?

12) A recipe calls for 3 cups of flour and 1.5 cups of milk. If Geraldo accidently used 5 cups
of flour, then how many cups of milk should he use to balance the recipe?

13) Anthony the Astronaut weighs 250 lbs. on Earth and only 41.5 lbs. on the Moon. If his
daughter Betty the Ballerina weighs 90 lbs on Earth, what is her weight on the Moon?

Mr. Smith 5 Sachem High School North

Integrated Algebra Chapter 4: Ratios, Rates, and Proportions

4.5 Speed, Distance, and Time

𝒅
The Formula Relating Speed ( s ), Distance ( d ), and Time ( t ) is as such: 𝒔=
𝒕
This should make sense because the units for speed are distance per time:

Miles per Hour Meters per Second Feet per Second

Also there are 2 other formulas that may be helpful to use:

𝑑
𝑑 =𝑠∙𝑡 𝑡= 𝑠
Find the Distance:

1) Speed: 25 mph Time: 2 hr Distance: _________miles

2) Speed: 21 meters per second Time: 18 seconds Distance: _________meters
3) Speed: 13 feet per minute Time: 120 seconds Distance: _________feet
4) Speed: 25 meters per second Time: 3½ Minutes Distance: _________meters

5) If it takes me 20 minutes to get to Sachem North High School, and I am traveling (on
average) 45 mph, what is a good estimate for the distance, to the nearest tenth of a mile,
from my house to this building?

Distance: _______ Speed: _______ Time: _______

Find the Speed:

6) Speed: _________ mph Time: 3 hr Distance: 150 miles

7) Speed: _________ km/hr Time: 180 minutes Distance: 250 kilometers
8) Speed: _________ ft/sec Time: 12 seconds Distance: 72 feet
9) Speed: _________ m/sec Time: 10 minutes Distance: 1,200 meters

10) A 747 Jet Airplane departs from JFK (New York) at 9:00 am and arrives in Orlando,
Florida at 11:40 am, If the distance traveled was 1090 miles, then what is the average
speed the jet was traveling?

Distance: _______ Speed: _______ Time: _______

Mr. Smith 6 Sachem High School North

Integrated Algebra Chapter 4: Ratios, Rates, and Proportions

Find the Time:

11) Speed: 55 mph Time: _________ hours Distance: 110 miles

12) Speed: 80 km/hr Time: _________ hours Distance: 240 kilometers
13) Speed: 88 ft/sec Time: _________ seconds Distance: 5,280 feet
14) Speed: 50 m/sec Time: _________ seconds Distance: 975 meters

15) An express train from Ronkonkoma to Penn Station covers a distance of 50.3 miles,
moving at an average speed of 47 mph. How long, in minutes will it take for the train to
get to its destination?

Distance: _______ Speed: _______ Time: _______

4.6 Solving Percentage Problems

Next, we’re moving onto percentage. Percentages are useful because they give us a standard to
work from. They change each fraction into some number out of 100.

For Example: In one of the previous problems we said that: “Roughly one in every four crimes in
the United States is alcohol or drug related.” This is an actual statistic; however this statistic is
more simply represented as 25%.

This should make sense because:

1 25%
=
4 100%

Therefore we can use these proportions to explain percentage:

𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 % 𝑖𝑠 %
= =
𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒 100 𝑜𝑓 100
Example: Example:

If Tom eats 4 slices of Pizza, and there are 15 is what percentage of 50?
8 Slices in a pie, What percentage of the pie
was eaten?

Mr. Smith 7 Sachem High School North

Integrated Algebra Chapter 4: Ratios, Rates, and Proportions

Percentage Practice Problems:

1) If the passing rate for a certain exam is 65% and there are 40 questions worth one point
each, what is the minimum number of points needed to pass the exam?

2) A 200 mL sodium solution contains 18% sodium and the rest is water. What is the
volume in milliliters of water in this mixture?

3) From a Standard Deck of 52 Cards, a card is drawn at random. What is the Percentage
that the first card drawn is:

a. A Red Card?

b. A Club?

c. An Even Numbered Card? (Think carefully with this one!)

d. A Queen?

Answer the following to the nearest Hundredth.

4) What is 30 percent of 10? 5) What is 70 percent of $4.75?

6) What is 93 percent of 96? 7) What is 8.625 percent of $19.99?

8) What is 5 percent of 19? 9) What is 90 percent of 90?

Mr. Smith 8 Sachem High School North