Proportions in Word Problems
Proportion Word Problems
• If you can buy one can of pineapple chunksfor $2 then how many can you buy with $10?– First set up a proportion then solve for your
variable.– Remember proportions are two equivalent ratios
set equal to each other.– 1 can = x $2 $10
Solving the proportion
• 1 can = x cans $2 $10
• 1(10) = 2x• 10 = 2x• 10 = 2x 2 2• 5 = x: You can buy 5 cans with $10.
Proportion Word Problems
• Ming was planning a trip to Western Samoa. Before going, she did some research and learned that the exchange rate is 6 Tala for $2. How many Tala would she get if she exchanged $6?– First set up a proportion then solve for your variable.– Remember proportions are two equivalent ratios set
equal to each other.– 6 Tala = x Tala $2 $6
Solving the proportion
• 6 Tala = x Tala $2 $6
• 6(6) = 2x• 36 = 2x• 36 = 2x 2 2• 18 = x: She would get 18 Tala.
Try one on your own…
• Jasmine bought 32 kiwi fruit for $16. How many kiwi can Jasmine buy if she only had $4?– First set up a proportion then solve for your
variable.– Remember proportions are two equivalent ratios
set equal to each other.
And another…
• Jenny was planning a trip to the United Arab Emirates. Before going, she did some research and learned that the exchange rate is 4 Dirhams for every $1. How many Dirhams would she get if she exchanged $5?
And one more…
• Shawna reduced the size of a rectangle to a height of 2 in. What is the new width if it was originally 24 in wide and 12 in tall?
Ex 1 Set up proportions
Two machines can complete 7 tasks every 3 days. Let t represent the number of tasks these machines can complete in a 30-day month. Write as a proportion.
7
3
tasks
days
30
t tasks
days
Ex 3 Set up proportions
Four pounds of grass seed will cover 100 sq ft. Let p represent the number of pounds of seed needed to cover 780 sq ft. Write as a proportion.
4
100
lbs
sq ft
780
p lbs
sq ft
Ex 4: On a road map 3 inches represents 40 miles. If two cities are 10 inches apart on the map, how many miles is it from one to the other?
miles3
1133
3" 10"
40mi d
inches
miles 3 400d
Ex 5: The ratio of boys to girls on the swim team is 5 to 4. How many girls are on the team if there are 65 boys?
boys
girls
5 65
4 x
5 260x
52x girls