Have you considered going into business with a business partner, or going on trip with a group of friends, maybe you have even planned a adapt that perfect chocolate cake recipe to make a cake with 12 servings instead of 6? If you have then it is vital you get your head around ratios. Mastering your ratios could prevent a riot if the cake isn’t enough or when the bill or profits are not shared fairly.
Working with Ratios
A ratio compares values.
It says how much of one thing there is compared to another thing.
Ratios are usually written in the form a:b
There are 3 blue squares to 1 yellow square
A ratio can be scaled up or down
Here it is scaled up:
The amount of squares has doubled but the proportion remains the same.
Both sides of the ratio can be multiplied or divided by the same number to give an equivalent ratio. In this case it was multiplied by 2.
Question
Alex and Atuns made a profit of $500 selling lemonade. Based on their contribution in setting up the business, they agree to share the money in the ratio 2:3. How much does each person receive?
The ratio tells us that for every $2 that Alex receives, Atuns will receive $3 .
In other words, this tells us that, of the total amount, Alex will receive 2 parts and Atuns will receive 3 parts. This means that there are 5 parts in total.
$500 represents 5 parts. Therefore, $100 represents 1 part.
Alex receives 2 parts: 2 x $100 = £200
Atuns receives 3 parts: 3 X $100 = $300
Not too hard, right? So to prevent riots breaking out, let’s learn how to handle ratios.
Here’s a video on ratios!
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