Types of Ratio and Their Significance

The ratio is a relationship or comparison between data, quantities, amounts, etc. It is used to compare quantities; it can be anything – length, volume, area, amount, height, side, etc. There are several types of ratios. 

There is another term, proportion, when two ratios are set equal to one another in an equation, then it is called proportion. The concept of ratio started in the medieval period, but it was first explained and developed by Pythagoreans who developed a theory on the ratio and proportion which applies to numbers.

Before going deeper, let’s first understand the basics. So, let’s take a look at some of the basics of the ratio using some important terms which are listed below.

Key Concepts of Ratio

1. Ratio: A ratio is a unitless or dimensionless quantity which is used to define the relationship between any quantities.

2. Terms of ratio: Terms of ratio is a part of a ratio, generally two parts, and are separated by a colon “:” sign and generally known as antecedent and consequent.

3. Antecedent: The ratio has two terms, the first term is called antecedent which is generally denoted by “m”.

4. Consequent: The last part of a ratio is called consequent, which is generally denoted by “n”.

5. Part to Part Ratio: It is a type of ratio in which the proportion of parts of a relation is shown and the sum of the parts of the relation makes the whole. It means that if a:b is a ratio, then a and b are the parts of a relation named c and the sum of ‘a’ and ‘b’ makes ‘c’.

6. Part to Whole Ratio: It is a type of ratio in which the proportion of part to the sum of parts or whole relation is shown. It means that if a:b is a ratio, then ‘a’ is a part of ‘b’ and ‘b’ is the sum of ‘a’ and ‘c’ if ‘c’ is another part of ‘b’.

Ratio and its significance

A ratio is a comparison quantity that is used to describe the relationship between two or more data or a ratio is a unitless or dimensionless quantity which is used to define the relationship between any quantities. There are two types of ratio analysis, which will be discussed here as well. But before understanding the types, just understand the ratio and its significance first. 

Ratio plays a very significant role in society. It helps the big companies to compare their monthly or annual data and keeps records of their profit or loss. A country also uses it to manage its administration by keeping the balance between imports and exports. It also deals with day-to-day activities, helps in making pie charts, to find the proportions, to describe something in terms of some other things and many more.

Types of ratios and their significance

There are mainly two types of ratios: “part to part ratio” and “part to whole ratio”. 

To know these types better, let’s study them carefully.

1. Part to part ratio: It is a type of ratio in which the proportion of parts of a relation is shown, n and the sum of the parts of the relation makes the whole. It means that if a:b is a ratio, then a and b are the parts of a relation named c and the sum of ‘a’ and ‘b’ makes ‘c’.

For example – Let’s assume that a classroom has a total strength of 60 students including boys and girls and the number of boys is forty and the number of girls is twenty. Then the ratio of boys to girls in this classroom is 40:20, which is equal to 2:1.

Here, in this ratio, the 40 and 20 are the parts of 60 which is the number of total students; and also the sum of 40 and 20 makes 60. Therefore, this is a part to part ratio.

The Significance of Part to Part Ratio is given below:

• It is used to represent the sex ratio of a population.

• It is used to find whether two parts of a different whole are equal in proportion or not respective to their whole.

2. Part to whole ratio: Let’s assume a whole as ‘c’ and ‘a’ and ‘b’ are the parts of ‘c’. Then, part of the whole ratio is a type of ratio in which the proportion of a:c or b:c is shown and the sum of ‘a’ and ‘b’ makes ‘c’. In conclusion, a part to the whole ratio shows the proportion of a part of a whole to the whole.

For example – Let’s assume the same condition as before: there is a classroom of sixty students and the number of boys is forty and the number of girls is twenty. Then the ratio of boys to the total students is 40:60 and the ratio of girls to the total students is 20:60, which is 2:3 and 1:3 respectively.

Here, in the first ratio of 40:60, 40 is a part of the whole relation and 60 is the sum of parts or said that it is the whole. Similarly, in the second ratio of 20:60, 20 is a part of a relation and 60 is the whole relation. Therefore, this is a part to whole ratio.

The Significance of Part to Whole Ratio is given below:

• It is used to represent the number of females in a population.

• It is used to represent the number of males in a population.

• It is used to divide a circle or any circular thing in equal parts.

Question Related to Ratio

1. The city population is 8,000 and there are 5,000 males in it. Find the ratio of females to males and also the females to the population.

Total females = 8000 – 5000

Total females = 3000

Therefore,

Ratio of females to males = Total females / Total males

Ratio of females to males= 5000 / 3000

Ratio of females to males = 5 / 3

Ratio of females to males = 5:3

Similarly,

Ratio of females to total population = Total number of females / Total number of population

Ratio of females to total population = 3000 / 8000

Ratio of females to total population = 3 / 8

Ratio of females to total population = 3:8

Hence, the ratio of females to males is 5:3 and the ratio of females to the total population is 3:8.

In this question, the ratio of females to males is a part to part ratio as two parts of the population are compared while the ratio of females to the total population is the part to the whole ratio as a part of the population is compared to the whole population.

Conclusion

A ratio is a unitless or dimensionless quantity which is used to define the relationship between any quantities. It has two terms or parts named Antecedent and Consequent. The first part of the ratio which is generally defined as ‘a’ is called antecedent and the second or last part of the ratio which is generally denoted by ‘b’ is called the consequent. It has two types, the first is ‘Part to Part Ratio’ and the second is ‘Part to Whole Ratio’. The part to part ratio generally defines the relationship between two parts while the part to the whole ratio defines the relationship between a part and the whole.

A ratio is denoted as a:b which basically means a/b and can also be used like that. It has many uses in the world as it is used in the sex or gender ratio calculation, in the business sector to calculate the analyse the income or profit of any company, etc. Now, all the concepts have been given so just dive into some FAQs.