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2. Solve proportions.
Writing the units when comparing each unit of a rate is called unit
analysis.
You can multiply and divide units just like you would multiply and
divide numbers. When solving problems involving rates, you can
use unit analysis to determine the correct units for the answer.
Example: How many minutes are in 5 hours?
5 hours 60
________
minutes = 300 minutes
1 hour
To solve this problem we need a unit rate that relates minutes to
hours. Because there are 60 minutes in an hour, the unit rate we
choose is 60 minutes per hour.
When Ratios are written in this order, a and d are the extremes, or
outside values, of the proportion, and b and c are the means, or
middle values, of the proportion.
___
a = ___
c
b
d
a:b::c:d
Extremes
Means
To solve problems which require the use of a proportion we can use one
of two properties.
The reciprocal property of proportions.
If two ratios are equal, then their reciprocals are equal.
The cross product property of proportions.
The product of the extremes equals the product of the means
Example:
5 35
3 x
3 x
5 35
3 x
Multiply both sides by 35 to isolate
35 35
the variable, then simplify.
5 35
21 x
Example:
2 6
x 9
92 6 x
18 6 x
6
6
3 x
If the average person lives for 75 years, how long would that be
in seconds?
If the average person lives for 75 years, how long would that be
in seconds?
To solve this problem we need to convert 75 years to seconds. We
can do this by breaking the problem down into smaller parts by
converting years to days, days to hours, hours to minutes and
minutes to seconds.
There are 365.25 days in one year, 24 hours in one day, 60
minutes in 1 hour, and 60 seconds in a minute.
75 years
2366820000
1 year
1 day
1 hour
1 minute
seconds
What is the ratio between the height of the model and the
height of the building?
What two pieces of information does the problem give you
to write a ratio?
For every 3/4th feet of height on the building
the model has 1/5th inches of height.
Therefore the ratio of the height of the model to the height
of the building is
1 inches 1 4 4 inches
5
This is called a scale factor.
3 feet
5 3 15 feet
4
15 feet
x
4 x 5 15 Use the cross product.
4 x 75
4
4