Ratio&Proportion

5
can be written as fraction
ions,
Because ratios

in a parking lot is 5:2 (5 to 2).

the ratio of c a r s to trucks since the latter reduces to the
Let's say that ratio of 10:4,
also equivalent to
a
5
to . ratio of 5:2 is
this ratio is equivalent 2
there are only
former. And assuming that
5 cars, there are 2 trucks.
ratio of 5:2 m e a n s
that for every for every 7 vehicles. By
the same
In this context, a also m e a n s that there are 5 c a r s
the lot, the ratio
cars and trucks parked in
vehicles.
token, there are 2 trucks for every 7

The ratio of the number of

and bagels for a breakfast event.
croissants
EXAMPLE 1: Minyoung bought 72 bagels, how
was 3 to 4. If Minyoung bought
croissants she to the number of bagels she bought
bought
many croissants did she buy?

According to the given ratio, Minyoung bought

3 croissants for every 4 bagels. Since she bought 72 bagels, she
must have bought
3croissants x 72 bagels =
|54 croissants
4 bagels

EXAMPLE 2: Arfand isfollowing a recipe for a seasoning blend that requires sea salt, black pepper, and
paprika. According to the recipe, the ratio of grams of sea salt to grams of black pepper should be 12, and
the ratio of grams of black pepper to grams of paprika should be 4:3. How many grams of paprika shoula
Arfand use to make 108 grams of the
seasoning
blend?

Since black pepper is involved in both

the given ratios, we can use for
it to establish a "common basis
comparison. First, multiply the sea salt to black ratio
pepper by 2 to get 2:4. Why
use
now the "4" in the ratio
lines up with the "4" in
the black to
multiply
by 2: DE
can establish that the ratio
between the three pepper paprika
ratio. Once they are
F lineu
we

ingredients
is 2:4:3 (sea salt to black
pepper to
According to this ratio, 3
grams of paprika should be used for paprika)
Arfand should every 2+4+3 =
9 grams of the blend. There ore,
use108 36 grams of paprika.

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Proportion
In addition to ratios, the SAT will also test you on
proportions, but not in the way that you typically
them in school (direct vs. indirect proportion). Instead, the SAT will give you a relationship and ask you ean
how
a change in one variable affects another.
Let's run through a quick example. Imagine we have a triangle. We know that the area of a triangle is

A-h
Now let's say we triple the height. What happens to the area?

Well, if we triple the height, the new height is 3/1. The new area is then

Anew
3t)-3(n)-3Aa
See what happened? The terms were rearranged so that we could clearly see the new area is three times the
old area. We put the "3" out in front of the old formula.

This technique is extremely important because it saves us time on tough proportion problems. We could've
made up numbers for the base and the height and calculated everything out, and while that's certainly a
strategy you should have in your toolbox, it would've taken much longer and left us more open to silly
mistakes.
Let's do a few more examples.

EXAMPLE 3: The radius of a circle is increased by 25%. By what percent does the area of the circle
increase?

Let the original area be Apld. If the original radius is r, then the new radius is 1.25r

Aneo= Tr(1.25r) = (1.25)-(7r) =1.5625(7Tr2) = 1.5625Apld

We can see that the area increases by | 56.25%

The idea is to get a number in front of the old formula. In this example, that number turned out to be 1.5625.
Also note that the 1.25r was wrapped in parentheses so that the whole thing gets squared. It would've been
incorrect to have Anew = n(1.25)r because we wouldn't be squaring the new radius.

EXAMPLE 4: The length of a rectangle is increased by 20%. The width is decreased by 20%. Which of the
following accurately describes the change in the area of the rectangle?

A) Increases by 10% B) Decreases by 10% C ) Decreases by 4% D) Stays the same

Originally, A = lw. Now,

Anew= (1.201) (0.80w) = 0.96lw = 0.96Aald

The area has decreased by 4%. Answer| (C) Most students think the answer is (D). It's not.

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CHAPTER 5 RATIO & PROPORTION

EXAMPLE 5:
F 9q192
2
The force of attraction between two particles can be determined by the formula above
in
force between them, r is the distance between them, and 41 and q2 are the charges of the tnch F is the
the distance between two charged particles is doubled, the resulting force of attraction is Particles the
the original force?
ttraction is what fractio
of

oD
uew 99192
(2)2 -( ( - { ) -Fold
Answer (B). Notice how we do
let constants like the "9" in the formula affect the
not
result. In goti
a number out front, students often make the mistake of
mixing that number up with numbers that
originally in the formula. were

EXAMPLE 6: The volume of cube is tripled. The

a
length of each side must have been
increased by
approximately what percent?

A) 3% B) 12% C) 33% D) 44%

Now we have to solve backwards.

Keep in mind that the volume of a cube is V s* where s is the length of
=

each side. Even though this

problem is a little different, we can still apply the same process as before: increase
each side by some factor and the terms to extract a
rearrange number. Only this time, we have to use x.
Vnew= (xs)°

Vnew=x°s* =x'Vold
Notice how we were still able to extract
something out in front, x3. That x must be equal to 3 if the new
volume is to be triple the old volume:

x=3
x =V3 1.44
Each side must have been increased
by approximately 44%. Answer| (D) |

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 THE COLLEGE PANDA

CHAPTER EXERCISE: Answers for this chapter start on page 282.

A calculator should NOT be used on the

following questions. A calculator is allowed on the following
questions.

The ratio of a to b is 7:6, and the ratio of b to c is

8:5. If a= 28, what is the value of c? V2
P=
R
Electric power P is related to the voltage V and
resistance R by the formula above. If the voltage
were halved, how would the electric power be
affected?

A) The electric power would be 4 times greater

B) The electric power would be 2 times greater.
C) The electric power would be halved.
The ratio 2,:1, can be written as n: 2. What is D) The electric power would be a quarter of
what it was.
the value of n?

Julie has a square fence that encloses her garden.

She decides to expand her garden by making
each side of the fence 10 percent longer. After
this expansion, the area of Julie's garden will
have increased by what percent?
A) 20%
The price of Product X is 25% greater than the B) 21%
price of Product Y. The price of Product Z is 25% C)22%
less than the price of product Y. What is the ratio
D) 25%
of the price of Product X to the price of
Product Z?
A) 3:2
B) 4:3
A right circular cone has a base radius of r and a
C)5:2 height of h. If the radius is decreased by 20
D) 5:3 percent and the height is increased by 10
percent, which of the following is the resulting
percent change in the volume of the cone?
A) 10% decrease
B) 12% decrease
C) 18.4% decrease
D) 29.6% decrease

41
 PROPORTION

5 RATIO &
CHAPTER

45
sV2

D
45°
A b2
S

The area of the trapezoid above can be found

In the triangle above, the
lengths of the sides
1, +b2)h. Iflengths BC and relate to one another shown. If a new
using the formula (b as
trianel
is created by decreasing s uch that the
AD are halved and the height is doubled, how area of
the new triangle is 64 percent of the
would the area of the trapezoid change? original area
S must have been decreased by what
A) The area would be increased by 50 percent. percent?
A) 8%
B) The area would stay the same.
B) 20%
C) The area would be decreased by 25 percent.
C) 25%
D) The area would be decreased by 50 percent.
D) 30%

8
Calvin has that is four times bigger Questions 10-11 refer to the following
a
sphere
than the one Kevin has in terms of volume. The information.
radius of Calvin's sphere is how many times
greater in length than the radius of Kevin's
L = 47tdb
sphere (rounded to the nearest hundredth)?
The total amount of energy emitted by a star each
A) 1.44
second is called its luminosity L, which is relatedto
B) 1.59
d, its distance (meters) away from Earth, and b, its
C)1.67 brightness measured in watts per square meter, by
D) 2.00 the formula above.

10

If one star is three

times as far away from Eart
as another, and twice as bright, its luminosity 15
how
many times greater than that of the other
star?

A) 8
B) 9
C)16
D) 18

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 THE COLLEGE PANDA

14
Astronomers see two equally bright stars, Star A If the ratio of y:2.4 is equivalent to 2.7:3.6, what
and Star B, in the night sky, but the luminosity of is the value of y ?
Star A is one-ninth the luminosity of Star B. The
distance of Star A from Earth is what fraction of
A) 2
the distance of Star B from Earth?
1
A) 27 B) 3
1
B) 9 C)

C) D)

2
D) 3
15
A Box A weighs 42 pounds and Box B weighs 30
pounds. The ratio of the weights of Box A to Box
B is equal to the ratio of the weights of Box C to
Box D. If Box C and Box D weigh a total of 180
The student body at an after-school program pounds, what is the weight of Box C, in pounds?
consists only of 6th graders, 7th graders, and 8th
A) 50
graders. The ratio of 6th graders to 8th graders is
B) 75
17:28. If a total of 110 students attend the
program, n of whom are 7th graders, what is a C) 105
possible value of n? D) 130

13

A bookstore ordered an initial shipment of 10

paperback copies and 4 hardcover copies of a
newly published book. The store must order a
second shipment with the same ratio of
paperback and hardcover copies as the initial
shipment. If the store orders 50 hardcover copies
of the book for the second shipment, how many
paperback copies should the store order?

43