Question

How is ratio used in everyday life?

Answer 1

Hint: Real life connections give students a meaning for the mathematics they are learning. Instead of existing only in the classroom, mathematics becomes an active part of students' lives. Therefore, we shall understand more about mathematical ratios and how they are related to our everyday life.

Complete step-by-step solution:
Ratio is a “comparison of two numbers by division”. This definition can be confusing as most of us think of comparison as trying to decide if a number is greater than, less than or equal to another number. However, in ratios, we are only trying to see how two numbers relate to each other. Thus, we shall think of ratios as a relationship between two numbers by division.
Ratios are used all the time to represent all sorts of things in real world situations. Some cookie recipe might instruct that for every 2 cups of flour, we need 1 cup of sugar. This means that the ratio of flour to sugar is 2 to 1 or 2:1. For the television screens, we say that the size or aspect ratio is 16 to 9. 16:9 is the ratio of the screen’s width to its height.
Similarly, from the various measurements of objects to the speed of vehicles, to the currency fluctuation per hour, to the analysis of daily expenditure and even for simple comparisons between two entities, ratios are used everywhere in our everyday life.

Note: Mathematically, ratios and fractions are basically the same thing. It's just that when we use a fraction in a particular way, we call it a ratio. The difference is how we use them to describe things in the real world. Thus, to differentiate a little, instead of using the standard division form, a ratio might also be represented with the colon symbol (:).