Class 5 to 8 · 27 games

Ratios, explained with pictures

Comparing two amounts by how many times one fits the other.

In everyday life: Two cups of rice to three cups of water, three boys to four girls in a group.

A ratio compares, it does not count

2 : 3 does not say there are 5 things. It says that for every 2 of the first there are 3 of the second — whether that is 2 and 3, or 20 and 30.

2 cups of rice
3 cups of water

Scale both sides or you change the mix

Doubling a recipe means doubling everything. 2 : 3 becomes 4 : 6, not 4 : 3. Add to only one side and the taste changes.

Double the rice: 4
Double the water: 6

A worked example

Is 4 : 6 the same mix as 2 : 3?

Yes

Both sides of 2 : 3 have been multiplied by 2. Nothing about the mix changed, only the amount you made.

Words to know

ratio
A comparison of two amounts, written like 2 : 3.
equivalent ratios
Ratios that describe the same mix, like 2 : 3 and 6 : 9.

In the games

You will match ratios that describe the same mix and spot the one that does not belong.

Skills

  • Equivalent ratios · Class 6
  • The unitary method · Class 7
  • Direct and inverse proportion · Class 8

By class

Grade 6 · RatiosMix ratios like paint

Practise ratios in Tivumo

No download, no account for your child. Classes 3 to 12, more than 1,000 games.