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11 Ratio and
proportion

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Getting started
1 Simplify these ratios.
a 8 cm : 4 mm Tip

3
b 15 seconds : 1 minute
c 300 mL : 1.5 L

PL
In a tennis club there are men, women and children members in
the ratio 5 : 6 : 4.
The tennis club has 270 members.
How many members of the tennis club are
a men b women c children?
A school maths club has 56 members. The ratio of boys to girls
Make sure both
measurements
in each ratio are
in the same units
before you start
to simplify.
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is 3 : 4.
a What fraction of the club members are girls?
b How many girls are in the club?
4 Sam mixes two shades of blue paint using the following ratios
of blue : white. Tip
SA

The blue paint

Sky blue 1 : 3   Ocean blue 2 : 5 with the greater
fraction of white
a What fraction of each shade of blue paint is white? paint will be
b Which shade of blue paint is lighter? Show all your lighter.
working. Justify your choice.
5 Six packets of potato chips cost $5.10. Work out the cost of
eight packets of potato chips.

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11 Ratio and proportion

Every musical note has a frequency. This frequency is measured in hertz

(Hz). The frequency tells you how many times a string playing that note
vibrates every second. This table shows the frequency of some of the
notes in the musical scale, rounded to one decimal place.

Note C D E F G A B
Frequency
261.6 293.7 329.6 349.2 392.0 440.0 493.9
(Hz)

There are some very simple ratios between the frequencies of some of

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these notes.
• Frequency of G : frequency of C = 3 : 2
because 392.0 ÷ 261.6 = 1.50 or 3 or 3 : 2
2
•

•
PL
Frequency of A : frequency of D = 3 : 2
because 440.0 ÷ 293.7 = 1.50 or 3 or 3 : 2
2
Frequency of A : frequency of E = 4 : 3
because 440.0 ÷ 329.6 = 1.33 or 4 or 4 : 3
3
The frequencies of G and C are in the same proportion as the
frequencies of A and D; these pairs of notes both have the same ratio,
3 : 2. Can you find some other ratios from the table that are equivalent
to 3 : 2?
M
The frequencies of A and E are in the ratio 4 : 3. Can you find some
other pairs of notes in the same proportion, with a ratio of 4 : 3?
Can you find any pairs of notes with frequencies in the ratio 5 : 4?
Many situations in real life use ratios. Getting better at ratios is similar
to playing the piano: you need to practise, practise, practise!
SA

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11.1 Using ratios

11.1 Using ratios

In this section you will …
• use ratios in a range of contexts..

You already know the method to share an amount in a given ratio.

For example:

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Question
Share $120 between Ali, Bea and Cas in the ratio 4 : 5 : 6.
Answer
4 + 5 + 6 = 15 and 120 ÷ 15 = 8
Ali gets 4 × 8 = $32
Bea gets 5 × 8 = $40
Cas gets 6 × 8 = $48
Check: 32 + 40 + 48 = $120 ✓
PL
You also need to be able to reverse this method to solve similar problems
M
when you are given different pieces of information. For example:

Question
Ali, Bea and Cas share some money in the ratio 4 : 5 : 6.
Ali gets $32.
SA

How much money do they share?

Worked example 11.1

A fruit drink contains orange juice and mango juice in the ratio 2 : 3.
There are 500 mL of orange juice in the drink.
a How much mango juice is in the drink?
b How much fruit juice is in the drink altogether?

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11 Ratio and proportion

Continued

Answer
a 1 part is worth 500 ÷ 2 = 250 mL 2 parts of the drink is orange juice, so use division
to work out the number of millilitres in 1 part
(1 unit) first.
mango juice: 3 × 250 = 750 mL 3 parts of the drink is mango juice, so use
multiplication to work out the number of millilitres in
3 parts.

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b Total: 500 + 750 = 1250 mL Add the number of millilitres of orange and
mango juice.
= 1.25 litres Change your answer into litres.

Exercise 11.1
1

a
PL
To make a cake, Marco uses sultanas and cherries in the ratio 5 : 2.
Marco uses 80 g of cherries to make the cake.
Copy and complete the working to answer these questions.
What mass of sultanas does Marco use?
Cherries: 2 parts = 80 g, so 1 part = 80 ÷ 2 =
Sultanas: 5 parts = 5 × = g
M
b What is the total mass of sultanas and cherries in the cake?
Total = 80 + = g
2 A fruit dessert contains raspberries and strawberries in the
ratio 1 : 2. There are 400 g of strawberries in the dessert.
Copy and complete the working to answer these questions.
SA

a How many grams of raspberries are there in the dessert?

Strawberries: 2 parts = 400 g, so 1 part = 400 ÷ 2 =
Raspberries: 1 part = g
b How much fruit is there altogether in the dessert?
Total = 400 + = g

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11.1 Using ratios

3 Xavier and Alicia share some money in the ratio 3 : 5.

Xavier gets $75.
a How much money does Alicia get?
b What is the total amount of money that they share?
4 Kaya and Akiko share their electricity bills in the ratio 3 : 4.
In January Akiko pays $24.
a How much does Kaya pay?
b What is their total bill?
5 When Jerry makes concrete, he uses cement, sand and

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gravel in the ratio 1 : 2 : 4.
For one wall he uses 15 kg of sand.
Copy and complete the working to answer these questions.
a How much cement and gravel does he use?

6
Cement: 1 part =
Gravel: 4 parts = 4 ×

Total = 15 + +
PL
Sand: 2 parts = 15 kg so 1 part = 15 ÷ 2 =
kg

=
=

kg
kg
b What is the total mass of the concrete he makes?

Three children share some sweets in the ratio 4 : 7 : 9.

The child with the most sweets gets 54 sweets.
a How many sweets does each of the other children get?
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b What is the total number of sweets that they share?

Think like a mathematician

7 Nia and Rhys use different methods to answer this question.
SA

Question
Jan, Kai and Li share a water bill in the ratio 2 : 3 : 5
Li pays $36.25.
How much is the total bill?

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11 Ratio and proportion

Continued

Nia writes:
Total number of parts = 2 + 3 + 5 = 10
Li: 5 parts = $36.25
so 1 part = 36.25 ÷ 5 = $7.25
so 10 parts = 7.25 × 10 = $72.50

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Rhys writes
Li: 5 parts = $36.25 so 1 part = 36.25 ÷ 5 = $7.25

a
b
c
PL
Jan: 2 parts = 7.25 × 2 = $14.50
Kai: 3 parts = 7.25 × 3 = $21.75
Total = 36.25 + 14.50 + 21.75 = $72.50

Critique their methods.

Can you think of a better method to use? If you can, write down your method.
Compare and discuss your answers to parts a and b with other learners
in the class.
M
8 Xavier makes some green paint.
He mixes yellow, blue and white paint in the ratio 4 : 5 : 1.
Blue
He uses 600 mL of yellow paint. Yellow White
a How much blue paint does he use?
SA

b How much green paint does he make?

Give your answer in litres.
Total mass = 13 + 52
= 65 g
9 The cards show the steps Ahmad uses to solve this problem.
3 parts = 39 g
Purple gold is made from gold and aluminium in 1 part = 39 ÷ 3
the ratio 4 : 1. = 13 g
A purple gold bracelet has 39 g more gold than
Difference in number
aluminium. of parts = 4 – 1 = 3
What is the mass of the bracelet?
4 parts = 13 × 4
   = 52 g

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11.1 Using ratios

The cards are not in the correct order.

Write the cards in the correct order.
Check all the steps to make sure the solution makes sense.
10 Moira and Non share some money in the ratio 3 : 7.
Non gets $28 more than Moira.
a What is the total amount of money that they share?
b How much money do they each get?

Think like a mathematician

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11 Work with a partner to answer this question.
a Two numbers are in the ratio 2 : 3.
One of the numbers is 6.

c
ii
PL
What is the other number?
Look back at your solution to part a.
i Were you able to answer the question or did you need more information?
How many possible answers are there to the question? Explain why.
iii Show how to check that your answers are correct.
Discuss your answers to parts a and b with other pairs of learners in your class.
Consider which Thinking and Working Mathematically characteristics you have
used to answer this question.
M
12 Two numbers are in the ratio 8 : 3. One of the numbers is 0.48
Work out the two possible values for the other number.
Show how to check that your answers are correct.
13 When Sofia makes oat biscuits, she uses syrup, butter and oats in
SA

the ratio 1 : 2 : 4.

I have plenty of syrup,

but only 250 g of
butter and 440 g
of oats.

Sofia makes as many oat biscuits as she can with these ingredients.
How much of each ingredient does she use? Show how you worked
out your answer.

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11 Ratio and proportion

14 White gold is made from gold, palladium, nickel and zinc in the
ratio 15 : 2 : 2 : 1.
A white gold ring contains 9 g of gold.
What is the mass of the ring?
15 The largest angle in a triangle is 75°.
The difference between the two other angles is 15°.
Write the ratio of the angles from smallest to biggest in its
simplest form.
16 The table shows the child-to-staff ratios in a kindergarten. Tip

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It also shows the number of children in each age group.
The child : staff
Age of children Child : staff ratios Number of children ratios show the
up to 18 months 3:1 10 maximum number
of children
18 months up to
3 years
3 years up to 5 years
5 years up to 7 years

the table.
PL 4:1

8:1
14 : 1

Erin thinks that 12 members of staff are needed to look after the
children in this kindergarten.
18

15
24

At the kindergarten there are four rooms, one for each age group in
allowed in the
room for each
member of staff.
So a ratio of
3 : 1 shows that
there can be no
more than three
children for one
member of staff.
M
What do you think? Show all your working and explain your answer.

Look back at the questions in this exercise.

a Which questions have you found
i the easiest ii the most difficult?
SA

Explain why.
b How can you improve your skills in using ratios in
different contexts?

Summary checklist
I can use ratios in a range of contexts.

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11.2 Direct and inverse proportion

11.2 Direct and inverse proportion

In this section you will … Key words
• understand the relationship between two quantities when inverse
they are in direct or inverse proportion. proportion

You already know that two quantities are in direct proportion when
their ratios stay the same as they increase or decrease. For example,

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when you buy bottles of milk, the more bottles you buy, the more it will
cost you. The two quantities, number of bottles and total cost, are in
direct proportion.
When two quantities are in inverse proportion, as one quantity increases

Worked example 11.2 PL

the other quantity decreases in the same ratio. For example, suppose it
takes two people 20 minutes to wash a car. If you increase the number
of people, the time taken to wash the car will decrease.

Answer these questions and state whether the quantities are in direct or inverse proportion.
a One tin of tomatoes costs $0.65. How much do 5 tins cost?
b It takes two people 20 minutes to wash a car. How long will it take four people to
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wash the car?

Answer
a Direct proportion The quantities are in direct proportion because five
1 tin = $0.65 tins of tomatoes will cost five times as much as one
×5 ×5 tin of tomatoes.
SA

5 tins = $3.25
b Inverse proportion The quantities are in inverse proportion because
2 people = 20 minutes the more people washing the car, the less time it will
×2 ÷2 take. The number of people is doubled, so the time
4 people = 10 minutes taken is halved.

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11 Ratio and proportion

Exercise 11.2
Think like a mathematician
1 Work with a partner to decide if these quantities are in direct proportion, inverse
proportion or neither.
a The total cost of packets of potato chips and the number of packets bought.
b The value of a house and the age of a house.
c The time it takes to run a certain distance and the speed of the runner.

E
d The total mass of packets of sultanas and the number of packets.
e The number of runs scored by a cricket team and the number of players in the
team.
f The time it takes to paint a fence and the number of people who are painting
the fence.

3
c
g
in your class.

4 litres
1 litre
PL
The value of a car and the age of a car. Discuss your answers with other learners

Two litres of fruit juice cost $3.50. Work out the cost of
a

Here is a recipe for rice pudding.

b 10 litres
d 5 litres of fruit juice.
M
a How much sugar is needed for 8 people?
b How much rice is needed for 6 people?
c How much milk is needed for 10 people?
Give your answer in litres.
4 Four horses can eat a bale of hay in two days.
SA

Copy and complete the working for these questions.

a How long does it take one horse to
eat a bale of hay?
4 horses = 2 days
÷4 ×4
1 horse = days
b How long does it take eight horses to
eat a bale of hay?
4 horses = 2 days
×2 ÷2
8 horses = days

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11.2 Direct and inverse proportion

5 It takes Dieter 36 seconds to run a certain distance.

Copy and complete the working for these questions.
a Dieter halves his speed. How long will it take him to run the
same distance?
normal speed = 36 seconds
÷2 1 speed =
×2
seconds
2
b Dieter runs three times as fast. How long will it take him to
run the same distance?
normal speed = 36 seconds

E
×3 ÷3
3 × speed = seconds
6 It takes Julia 40 minutes to drive to work at an average speed of
60 km/h.

7
a

PL
Julia drives at an average speed of 120 km/h. How long will it
take Julia to drive to work?
b It takes Julia 80 minutes to drive to work. What is Julia’s
average speed?
It costs a fixed amount to hire a villa in Spain. Up to 12 people can
stay in the villa.
Antonio hires the villa for his family of four people. The cost per
person is €300.
Copy and complete the table.
M
Number of people 4 12 2 1 6 10 5
Cost per person (€) 300

Think like a mathematician

SA

8 Work with a partner to answer this question.

Bengt and Susu are working out the answer to this question.

Question
9 men can build a house in 28 days.
How long will it take 12 men to build the house?

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11 Ratio and proportion

Continued

Bengt writes: Susu writes:

12
÷9
9 men : 28 days
×9 12 ÷ 9 = 9 = 34
1 man : 252 days
×12 ÷12 28 ÷ 34 = 28 × 34 = 21 days
12 men : 21 days

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a Critique their methods.
b Can you think of a different method to use? If you can, write it down.
c What is your favourite method?

9
d

PL
Compare and discuss your answers to parts a to c with other pairs of learners in
the class.

It takes 6 people 4 hours to sort and pack a load of eggs.

How long will it take 10 people to sort and pack the
same number of eggs?
Give your answer in hours and minutes.
10 Arun and Marcus are looking at this question.
M
Question
At a theme park, there are 36 people on a roller
coaster.
The ride takes 4 minutes.
SA

How long does the ride take when there are

18 people on the roller coaster?

Arun says: Marcus says:

I think the ride will take I think the ride will

2 minutes as the number of still take 4 minutes because
people has halved. that is the length of the
36 ÷ 2 = 18, so ride and it doesn’t matter
4 ÷ 2 = 2 minutes. how many people are on
the roller coaster.
a What do you think? Justify your answer.
b Discuss your answer to part a with a partner.

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11.2 Direct and inverse proportion

Activity 11.1
Work with a partner for this activity.
a Take it in turns to choose one of these information cards.
It takes 2 people 6 days to paint a A recipe uses 200 g of flour to make
house. 12 biscuits.

With $1 (USA) you can buy 80 chickens eat a bag of corn in one day.
€0.8 (euros).

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Tim can cycle to school in 4 cleaners clean a holiday home in 2 1 hours.
30 minutes. 2

b Use the information card you have chosen to write a question for your partner.
Make sure you work out the answer. Write the answer on a separate piece of paper.
c

d
PL
Ask your partner to answer your question, then check their answer and working.
Discuss any mistakes that have been made.
Do this three times each, so you use all the cards.

11 In a science experiment, Camila measures how far a ball bounces

when she drops it from different heights. The table shows her
results.
M
Height when dropped (cm) 50 100 150 200 250
Height of bounce (cm) 40 80 120 160 200
a Do Camila’s results show that the height of the drop and the
height of the bounce are in direct proportion? Explain your
answer.
b How high does the ball bounce when it is dropped from a
SA

height of 120 cm? Height of ball before and after bounce

c i Make a copy of this coordinate
Height of bounce (cm)

250
grid and plot the points in the
200
table on the grid.
150
ii What do you notice about the 100
points? 50
iii Is it possible to draw a straight 0
line through all the points? 0 50 100 150 200 250 300
iv Camila drops the ball and Height when dropped (cm)
it bounces back up 180 cm.
Use your graph to work out the height from which she
dropped the ball.

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11 Ratio and proportion

12 In a science experiment, Abnar measures the increase in the length

of a string when it has different masses attached. The table shows
his results.

Mass (g) 20 30 40 50
Increase in length (mm) 12 18 24 30
a What type of proportion do Abnar’s results show? Explain
your answer.
b Draw a graph to show Abnar’s results. Draw a straight line
through all the points.

E
c Use your graph to work out
i the increase in length when a mass of 45 g is attached
ii the mass attached when the increase in length is 20 mm.
d Is the following statement true or false? Explain your answer.

quantities.’

Summary checklist
PL
‘When two quantities are in direct proportion, you can draw
a straight-line graph to show the relationship between the two

I can understand the relationship between two quantities when they are in direct or
inverse proportion.
M
SA

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11 Ratio and proportion

Check your progress

1 A fruit conserve contains blackcurrants
and redcurrants in the ratio 5 : 2.
There are 300 g of redcurrants in the
conserve.
a How many grams of blackcurrants
are in the conserve?

E
b How much fruit is in the conserve
altogether?
2 Four children share some strawberries in
the ratio 6 : 8 : 10 : 14.
The child with the fewest strawberries

3
gets 18 strawberries.
a

PL
How many strawberries does each of the other children get?
b What is the total number of strawberries that they share?
To make scones, Arun uses sugar, butter and flour in the ratio 1 : 2 : 8.

I have 100 g of
sugar, 300 g of
M
butter and 400 g
of flour.

Arun makes as many scones as he can with these ingredients.

How much of each ingredient does he use?
SA

4 Lian delivers leaflets. She is paid $12 for delivering 400 leaflets.
How much is she paid for delivering
a 200 leaflets b 600 leaflets c 150 leaflets?
5 It takes 3 people 4 days to build a garage.
a How long does it take one person to build the garage?
b How long does it take four people to build the garage?
c How many people are needed to build the garage in 2 days?

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