7.

1 Proportions

ex 1 During the 2003-2004 school year there were 309,032 girls that
participated in high school soccer. At that time there were 9490 schools
surveyed who had soccer programs. Find the ratio of girl soccer players
per school rounded to the nearest person.

Rounded would be about 33 to 1 or 33:1 or

ex 2 In a triangle, the ratio of the side lengths is 5:12:13, and the

perimeter is 90 cm. Find the length of the shortest side.

Think of a ratio as being parts. So, for this triangle there are 5 parts
and 12 parts and 13 parts which combine to make the perimeter of
90. Having parts of an unknown size encourages us to use a
variable. Since its a ratio, the parts (variable) are the same even if
there are different quantities of them.
5 parts + 12 parts + 13 parts = the whole 90
5x

12x

13x
30x
x

= 90
= 90
= 3

Plug that value into the side with the least number of parts.
5x = 5(3) = 15 cm

def ratio comparison of 2 quantities using

def proportion equation stating two ratios are =

You say:

2 is to 3 as 6 is to 9
means

extremes

In a proportion, the product of the extremes = the product of the means.

So, (2)(9) = (3)(6)
18 = 18
You usually call this cross-multiplying.

ex 3 Solve the proportion.

Of course the previous example was quite contrived. In your future life
you would see problems like this:

ex 4 A boxcar on a train has a length of 40 feet and a width of 9 feet. A

scale model is going to be made with a length of 16 inches. Find the width
of the model.