PROPORTION AND PERCENT OVERVIEW

Before you start, you should understand fractions and decimals

Ratios Com!are T"o Num#ers
For example, if an animal shelter has 6 cats and 7 dogs, the ratio of cats to dogs in the
animal shelter is 6 to 7.
This ratio can be expressed in several ways.
$
% 7 6 :
7
6
Ratios can be expressed in several forms; we strongly urge students to write ratios in the
form that loos lie a fraction. This is a familiar form that will mae it easier for the
student to perform calculations
7
6
!e also strongly urge students to label the ratios when they write them.
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7
6

dogs
cats
The order of the ratio depends on its presentation. The number mentioned first is written
first. 'otice that the dogs come before the cats on this page. !e, therefore, write the
ratio with dogs coming first. "f an animal shelter has 7 dogs and 6 cats, the ratio of dogs
to cats in the animal shelter is 7 to 6. %lthough there is no difference in the actual
number of dogs and cats on this page, we write the ratio differently.
6
7 $&%
6
7
This ratio is now in its simplest form and cannot be further simplified. %lthough it loos
lie an improper fraction, it isn4t.
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8$%R%8T#R")T"8) &F % FR%8T"&', (& '&T T$"'7 &F "T %) %
FR%8T"&'.
"n the following problem, the ratio must be simplified.
'ote that in the problem, there are fifteen dimes and 6 nicels or /9 to 6. )ince dimes are
mentioned first, the ratio is expressed: dimes to nicels.
6
15
nickels
dimes
%s with a fraction, we do not leave the ratio in this form. %gain as with fractions, we
find the highest common divisor. "n this case both /9 and 6 can be divided by ;.
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6
7

cats
dogs
6esterday " too a bunch of
coins out of my pocet.
There were fifteen dimes
and six nicels. !hat is the
ratio of dimes to nicels<
6
15
nickels
dimes

2 3 6
5 3 15
=
=

2
5
nickels
dimes
!hen we regroup the coins, we can easily see that for every five dimes, there are 2
nicels. !e write the ratio in its simplest form. (o not forget to label the ratios.
2
5
nickels
dimes
A Pro!ortion Com!ares T"o Ratios
From the previous problem we discovered that /9:6 is e=uivalent to 9:2. % proportion is
an e=uation that compares two ratios.
'
(
%
)(
nic*els
dimes
=
"n another example, there is an office with ten people. There are two women for every
three men. That is, the ratio of women to men is 2:;. "n this office there are actually >
women and six men. This can be written as a proportion.
3
2

6
4

men
women
= 'otice that by cross multiplying:
12 2 X 6
12 3 X 4
=
=
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+o" to ,ol-e ,im!le Pro!ortions
!e use the attribute of proportions that the products of cross multiplication are e=ual.
'otice the example on the previous page:
.
'

%
/
=
'otice that by cross multiplying:
)' ' 0 %
)' . 0 /
=
=
!e can use this attribute to solve simple proportions. Remember that division is the
opposite of multiplication. 'ote the relationship: > x ; ? /2 /2 @ ; ? >
.
'

%
m
=
"n this example, we want to find the value of m.
/. 8ross multiply: 6 x 2 ? /2
2. (ivide: /2 @ ; ? >
. Therefore m 1 /
,et us try some more examples.
/(
d

(
.
=
"n this example, we want to find the value of d.
/. 8ross multiply: ; x >9 ? /;9
2. (ivide: /;9 @ 9 ? 27
. Therefore d 1 '$
)%
)'

c
.
=
"n this example, we want to find the value of c.
/. 8ross multiply: ; x /6 ? >A
2. (ivide: >A @ /2 ? >
. Therefore c 1 /
.2
f

.
'
)
=
"n this example, we want to find the value of f.
/. 8ross multiply: /B2 x ;3 ? /9
2. (ivide: /9 @ ; ? 9
. Therefore f 1 (
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*roportion !ord *roblem #xample:
8ross -ultiply:
/3 '/ ' =
(ivide:
. )% /3 =
#xamine the groupings of the eggs and cranberry apple bars above. 'ote that for every A
bars, there is / egg. %lso note that /6 bars correspond to 2 eggs Cinformation given in
problemD, and that 2> bars correspond to three eggs. %lso note that if you simplify 2 to
/6, you get /:A.
A Percent is a Ratio
% percent is a ratio. "t compares a number to /33. !e use
the word cent 8ent is the shortened form of the ,atin
word centum which means /33.
For example we all now that a dollar is e=ual to /33 cents,
"f you have /> cents in your pocet, you have /> out of /33
cents or
/>E of a dollar
This can be written as a ratio:
)22
)/

"hole
!art
"t can also be written in
the familiar decimal form:
)/ . or 4 )/
The line in a percent ratio
can be thought of as the
word !er. Therefore />E
in the fraction form can be
read as /> per /33 or />
!er cent.
6ou can also thin
of the percent bar as
the word of. 6ou
can refer to />E as
/> out of /33 or Fust
/> of /33.
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$arry has a recipe that calls for
2 eggs to mae /6 cranberryG
apricot bars. $e plans to bae
2> bars for his son4s fifth grade
class. $ow many eggs will he
need to have<
'/
0
)%
'
#ars
e55s
=
6,E PROPORTION, TO ,O7VE PERCENT PROB7E8,
-y son4s class has /6 children.
There are > boys and /2 girls in
the class. Therefore the ratio of
boys to the whole class is >:/6.
5sing the information about the
distribution of boys and girls in
my son4s class we can come up
with three types of percent
problems.
+efore discussing the three types of percent problems that can be derived from the above
information, we will show that the ratio of boys to the whole class C>:/6D can be written
as 29E.
%s you now, a proportion is an e=uation that compares two ratios. 'otice the following
proportion. The ratio on the right refers to the number of boys CpartD compared to the
Cwhole classD. The ratio on the left is the percent. )ee label left of the proportion..
This proportion can be thought of as: Four of the sixteen students in the class are boys.
Therefore 29 !ercent of the class is boys.
The validity of the proportion can be shown by crossGmultiplying.
4 X 100 = 400 16 X 25 = 400
!e will use this cross multiplication attribute of proportions to solve three types of
percent problems.
Find the percent when given the whole and the part.
Find the part when given the whole and the percent
Find the whole given the percent and the part.
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T+REE T9PE, O: PERCENT PROB7E8,
:IND A PERCENT; <IVEN W+O7E AND PART
-y son4s class has /6 children. There are > boys and /2 girls in the class. !hat percent
of the children in my son4s class are boys<
To find the percent of boys in the class, use a proportion. 6ou are asing yourself to
compare the relation of >:/6 to some number C!$%TD compared to /33. The 0 in the
e=uation below refers to some unnown number CpercentD. $int: when you see the
=uestion: what percent, you always write HB/33 on the left side of the e=uation.
)%
/

)22
0

"hole
!art
=
8alculation
/22 )22 / =
'(
/22 )%
Therefore 29E of the pupils in my son4s class are boys.
-y son4s class has /6 children.
There are > boys and /2 girls in
the class. !hat percent of the
children in my son4s class are
girls<
The ratio of girls to the whole class is /2B/6.
)%
)'

)22
0

"hole
!art
=
)'22 )22 )' =
$(
)'22 )%
"f you figured that 79E of the pupils in my son4s class are girls, you are correct. 'ote that
if the boys comprise 29E of the class and the girls comprise 79E of the class, the total
CwholeD class is /33E
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:IND T+E PART; <IVEN T+E PERCENT AND W+O7E
!e will use the same class that we used in the previous example. This time you will be
given the percent and will be ased to find the part.
-y son4s class has /6 children.
29E of the class is made up of
boys. $ow many boys are in the
class<
"n this example the unnown number, the answer we are looing for is the part. %gain
we will use the letter 0 to represent the unnown =uantity or the answer. $int C/D: )ince
you are given 29E, you write 29B/33 on the left side. $int C2D: )ince the word class
refers to /6 children and the word class comes after the word Iof,J /6 refers to the whole
class and is placed under the bar on the right side.
)%
0
)22
'(
"hole
!art
=
/22 '( 0 )% =

4
400 100
Therefore there are four boys in my son4s class.
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:IND T+E W+O7E; <IVEN T+E PERCENT AND PART
-y son4s class has > boys. The
boys mae up 29E of the class.
$ow many children are in the class
altogether<
"n this case, we now that there are four boys in the class and the boys mae up 29E or
29B/33 of the class. !e are now looing for the whole. $int C/D: )ince you are given
29E, you write 29B/33 on the left side. $int C2D: )ince the word Kclass4 comes after the
word Iof,J and we are looing for the number of students in the classCwholeD, the H is
placed under the bar on the right side.
0
/
)22
'(
"hole
!art
=
/22 )22 0 / =

)%
/22 '(
There are /6 children in my son4s class.
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'ow that you understand how to solve three types of percent documents separately, now
try a set of mixed examples.
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,O7VIN< PERCENT PROB7E8, 6,IN< ,+ORTC6T,
,tudy this !a5e if you "ant to use a short cut
"nstead of of solving some percent problems with a proportion, a percent problem can be
solved by simple division.
PERCENT DIVIDE B9
9 E 23
/3 E /3
/2 L E A
23 E 9
29 E >
;; /B; E ;
93 E 2
:IND T+E PART; <IVEN T+E PERCENT AND W+O7E
Remember the problem on page A when we had to calculate 29 E of /6. !e used the
following proportion to find the part to find the answer is >..
)%
0
)22
'(
"hole
!art
=

5sing the shortcut method, by looing at the chart above for 29 E, we see that 29 percent
of a number is the same as M of a number. !e divide /6 by >.
)%/=/

Therefore 29 E of /6 is >.
%nother example
Find 93E of /93.
,oo above at chart. "t says to find 93E of a number.
!e divide /93 by 2.
)(2'=$(

Therefore 93E of /93 is 79.
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