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Ratio, proportion & rates of change · Ratio

Chapter 1 · 4

The idea

Sharing a quantity in a ratio

Why a ratio splits a quantity into equal "parts", how to find the value of one part, and how that unlocks difference, one-share-given, and fraction questions.

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Ratio, proportion & rates of change · Ratio

Sharing a quantity in a ratio

Why a ratio splits a quantity into equal "parts", how to find the value of one part, and how that unlocks difference, one-share-given, and fraction questions.

Why it works

A recipe for equal parts

A ratio like 5:35 : 3 is not two amounts — it's a recipe for cutting something into equal parts. "Share £480 in the ratio 5:35 : 3" means: chop the £480 into 5+3=85 + 3 = 8 equal parts, give one person 55 of those parts and the other 33. So the single most useful move in every ratio question is:

one part=4805+3=£60\text{one part} = \frac{480}{5 + 3} = £60

Find the part, and the whole question falls open.

Add the ratio numbers first

The commonest mistake is to divide by one of the ratio numbers — say 480÷5480 \div 5 — or by the number of people. Neither is the number of parts. There are 5+3=85 + 3 = 8 parts, so you divide by 88. Miss the "add them up" step and every share is wrong.

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The rest of the explanation, plus 2 worked examples you step through move by move.

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