Constant

of Proportionality

Notes
 Proportional Relationships
Proportion: a statement that two rates or ratios are equivalent

Rate of Change: the rate that describes how one quantity

changes in relation to another quantity

Constant of Proportionality (k): represents the constant

rate of change between x (the independent variable) and y
(the dependent variable)

Formula: k = y/x
 Practice
Find the constant of proportionality (k) for the table
below:

k = y/x x y
2 10
k = 10/2 4 20
6 30
k=5
 Practice
Find the constant of proportionality (k) for the table
below:

k = y/x x y
2 7
k = 7/2 4 14
7 24.5
k = 3.5 13 45.5
Find the constant of proportionality for all of the
tables below.
# 1 # 2 # 3 # 4
x y x y x y x y
2 5 8 2 6 42 2 24
4 10 16 4 7 49 3 36
8 20 24 6 9 63 5 60

# 5 # 6 # 7
x y x y x y
2 19 3 10.5 2 21.5
3 28.5 4 14 7 75.25
8 76 9 31.5 8 86
 Answers

1 à 2.5 2 à 0.25 3 à7 4 à 12
x y x y x y x y
2 5 8 2 6 42 2 24
4 10 16 4 7 49 3 36
8 20 24 6 9 63 5 60

5 à 9.5 6 à 3.5 7 à 10.75

x y x y x y
2 19 3 10.5 2 21.5
3 28.5 4 14 7 75.25
8 76 9 31.5 8 86
Marco is a churro fan, and purchases churros from the
same store every week. There is no price list for
churros, so he is trying to calculate the unit rate (price
per churro), given the following amounts he purchased
and corresponding cost. What is the cost per churro?
Number of Churros Total Cost ($)
3 6.75
5 11.25
8 18
12 27

$6.75/ 3 = $2.25 per churro

Find the constant of proportionality (k) for the table
below:

x y
3 7.5
8 20
15 37.5
k = y/x
k = 20/8
k = 2.5
Find the constant of proportionality (k) for the table
below:

# of bananas 3 5 8 20
Total cost ($) 0.69 1.15 1.84 4.60

k = y/x

k = 4.6/20 The cost per banana

is $0.23
k = 0.23
 Proportional Relationships
To determine if the relationship is proportional between
the variables on the table, calculate the constant of
proportionality (k) for each set of data (x,y), and see if they
are all equivalent. If they are not, it is not proportional.

If x and y are not listed, remember x is the independent

variable, and y is the dependent variable in the
relationship.

For example: the number of bananas you choose to buy is

independent. The price you pay is dependent on the
number of bananas.
 Practice
The table below shows the relationship between the
amount charged by a house cleaning company and the
amount of time worked. Is this relationship a
proportional relationship?

Time worked (hours) 1 2 3 5 8

Total cost (dollars) 45 90 135 225 360

k = 45/1 = 45 k = 225/5 = 45
k = 90/2 = 45 k = 360/8 = 45
k= 135/ = 45 The relationship is
3
proportional
 Practice
Callie earns money by dog sitting. Based on the table,
is the relationship between the amount Callie earns
and the number of days a proportional relationship?
Number of Days 1 2 3 4 5
Amount Earned ($) 16 32 48 64 80

k = 16/1 = 16 k = 64/4 = 16
k = 32/2 = 16 k = 80/5 = 16
k = 48/3 = 16 The relationship is
proportional
 Proportional Relationships
If you are given a table, and the relationship between the
independent variable and dependent variable are
proportional, you can calculate any missing values in the
table.

x y k = 1/3 = x/6
3 1
6 2 x=2
12 4