Ratios and Proportions

Multiple Choice
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

____ 1. A platter contains the following items:

Type of Vegetable Number on Platter
Carrots 10
Peas 11
Peppers 30
Green beans 40
What is the ratio of peppers to peas?
a. 11:30 c. 30:11
b. 91:11 d. 30:91
____ 2. The table shows the number of several types of balls sold by a sporting goods store.
Type of Ball Number in Store
Baseballs 65
Softballs 3
Footballs 81
Soccer balls 35
What is the ratio of softballs to the total number of balls?
a. 3:65 c. 184:65
b. 184:3 d. 3:184
____ 3. A street contains houses that are painted the following colors:
Color of House Number of Houses
Red 31
Green 23
Yellow 45
Brown 6
What is the ratio of total number of houses to the number of green houses?
a. 105:23 c. 6:23
b. 105:6 d. 23:105
____ 4. List three equivalent ratios that compare the number of w’s below to the number of g’s.
wwwwwwww gggggggggggggggggggggggg

a. c.

b. d. , ,
____ 5. Below is a model containing the symbols # and $.

$$$$$ $$$$$ $$$$$ #####

List two ways of representing the ratio of the number of $ symbols to the number of # symbols.
 a. c.

b. d.

____ 6. Find the missing value in the proportion: .

a. x = 0.02 c. x = 49
b. x = 5 d. x = 4
____ 7. How many inches is 17 feet equal to?
a. 204 inches c. 612 inches
b. 204 feet d. 12 feet
____ 8. How many pounds is 9 tons equal to?
a. 144 pounds c. 2,000 pounds
b. 27,000 pounds d. 18,000 pounds
____ 9. How many quarts is 11 gallons equal to?
a. 4 quarts c. 58 quarts
b. 44 quarts d. 88 quarts
____ 10. Jon’s summer baseball league has 44 thirteen-year-olds and 36 fourteen-year-olds. Write the ratio of thirteen-
year-olds to fourteen-year-olds in three different ways.
a. 11 , 11 to 9, 11:9 c. 9 , 9 to 20, 9:20
9 20
b. 9
, 9 to 11, 9:11 d. 11
, 11 to 20, 11:20
11 20

____ 11. In the last three years, Frederico’s basketball team won 30 more games than they lost. If they won 150 games,
what was their ratio of wins to losses? Show the ratio in three different ways.
a. 5 , 5 to 6, 5:6 c. 5 , 5 to 4, 5:4
6 4
b. 5
, 5 to 1, 5:1 d. 1
, 1 to 5, 1:5
1 5

____ 12. Determine whether the ratios are proportional.

a. no b. yes
____ 13. Determine whether the ratios and are proportional.
a. no b. yes
____ 14. Find a ratio equivalent to . Then use the ratios to write a proportion.
a. c.

b. d.
Ratios and Proportions
Answer Section

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. ANS: C
Place the number of the first vegetable in front of the colon. Place the number of the second vegetable behind
the colon.

KEY: ratio
NOT: /A/Which number should come first in this ratio? /B/Is this question asking for a whole to a part or a
part to a part? /C/Correct! /D/Is this question asking for a part to a whole or a part to a part?
2. ANS: D
Put the number of softballs in front of the colon. Find the total and put it behind the colon.

KEY: ratio
NOT: /A/Is this question asking for a part to a whole or a part to a part? /B/Which number should come first
in this ratio? /C/Are you using the number for the correct type of ball? /D/Correct!
3. ANS: A
Add the total number of houses of various colors, and put the total in front of the colon. Put the number of
green houses behind the colon.

KEY: ratio
NOT: /A/Correct! /B/Are you using the correct color of house?/C/Are you using the total number of houses
in your ratio? /D/Which number should be first?
4. ANS: D
Place the number of w’s in the numerator and the number of g’s in the denominator. Other equivalent
fractions can be created by multiplying or dividing by a form of 1, such as .

KEY: ratio, equivalent ratio

NOT: /A/Are your second and third fractions equivalent to the first? /B/Are your fractions equivalent to each
other? /C/Which number should be in the numerator of the fraction? /D/Correct!
5. ANS: D
Count the number of dollar signs and put that number in the numerator of the first fraction. Count the number
of pound signs, and put that number in the denominator of the first fraction. Simplify the first fraction to get a
second fraction.

KEY: proportion
NOT: /A/Which number should be placed in the numerator of the fraction?/B/Are you comparing dollar
signs to pound signs or pound signs to dollar signs? /C/Did you simplify the original fraction properly?
/D/Correct!
6. ANS: D
Cross multiply. Multiply the left numerator by the right denominator, and divide that product by the left
denominator.

KEY: proportion, cross products

NOT: /A/Could you multiply the denominator of the first fraction by some number to get the denominator of
the second fraction? /B/Did you cross multiply? /C/Did you cross multiply? /D/Correct!
 7. ANS: A
Set up the proportion and cross multiply to solve for x. A sample proportion would be as follows:

KEY: proportion, measurement

NOT: /A/Correct! /B/Which unit of measurement are you solving for? /C/Are you using the correct length
conversion? /D/Did you set up a proportion containing the correct length conversion?
8. ANS: D
Set up the proportion and cross multiply to solve for x. A sample proportion would be as follows:

KEY: proportion, measurement

NOT: /A/Are you using the correct weight conversion? /B/Did you set up a proportion using the weight
conversion as one ratio? /C/Did you find the conversion for the correct numbers of units? /D/Correct!
9. ANS: B
Set up the proportion and cross multiply to solve for x. A sample proportion would be as follows:

KEY: proportion, measurement

NOT: /A/This is the number in one unit. /B/Correct! /C/Did you set up a proportion using the capacity
conversion as one ratio? /D/Are you using the correct capacity conversion?
10. ANS: A
Place the number of 13-year-olds in the numerator and the number of 14-year-olds in the denominator of the
fraction, and simplify the fraction. Use these same values to write the ratio in the other two formats, placing
the number of 13-year-olds first.

KEY: ratio
NOT: /A/Correct! /B/This is the ratio of 14-year-olds to 13-year-olds. /C/This is the ratio of 14-year-olds to
the total number of players. /D/This is the ratio of 13-year-olds to the total number of players.
11. ANS: C
Subtract to find the number of losses. Write the number of wins in the numerator of the fraction and the
number of losses in the denominator. Simplify. Use these same values to write the ratio in the other two
formats, placing the number of wins first.

KEY: ratio
NOT: /A/Subtract to determine the number of losses. /B/Subtract to determine the number of losses; then,
write a ratio relating wins to losses./C/Subtract to determine the number of losses; then, write a ratio relating
wins to losses. /D/Correct!
12. ANS: A
The ratios are proportional if their numerators are equal when they are written as fractions with a common
denominator.

KEY: compare, ratio

NOT: /A/Correct! /B/Are the numerators equal when the ratios are written with a common denominator?
13. ANS: A
The ratios are proportional if their numerators are equal when they are written as fractions with a common
denominator.
 KEY: compare, ratio
NOT: /A/Correct! /B/Are the numerators equal when the ratios are written with a common denominator?
14. ANS: D
Multiply the numerator and denominator of the given ratio by the same number and you will obtain an
equivalent ratio. Examples: and .

KEY: equivalent ratios, proportion, ratio

NOT: /A/Are the numerators equal when the ratios are written with a common denominator? /B/Are the
numerators equal when the ratios are written with a common denominator? /C/Are the numerators equal when
the ratios are written with a common denominator? /D/Correct!