Question

Explain why partitioning a directed line segment into a ratio of 1:3 is not the same as finding half the length of the directed line segment.

Answer 1

The reason is explained below.

Explanation:

Partition means to separate or to divide. A line segment can be partitioned into smaller segments which are compared as ratios.

The ratio of 1:3 shows that the segment will actually be divided into 4 equal sections and finding half the length of the directed line segment implies that the line segment divides in the ratio 1:1 i.e the segment will actually be divided into 2 equal sections.

Hence, partitioning a directed line segment into a ratio of 1:3 is not the same as finding half the length of the directed line segment

Answer 2

A ratio of 1:2 means that there are 3 parts in total. One part will be before the desired point, and 2 parts will be after the desired point. This is the same as finding the point that is 1/3 the length. Half the length of the segment would mean there would only be two pieces, each of equal size.

Explanation: