Question

Determine if each pair of ratios are equivalent.

17. 8/5,24/20
18. 0.5/10,5/100
19. 1.3/5.2,12/48

Answer 1

• 17. No
• 18. Yes
• 19. Yes

Explanation:

There are several ways you can determine the equivalence of two ratios:

1. Reduce each one to lowest terms. Equivalent ratios will have identical lowest terms.
2. Perform the division indicated by the ratio. Equivalent ratios will have identical quotients.
3. Multiply each ratio by the product of the denominators. Equivalent ratios will have identical products.

For these problems, these methods look like ...

17. In lowest terms: 8/5 and 6/5. (not equivalent)

Performing the division: 1.6 and 1.2. (not equivalent)

Multiplying each by 100: 160 and 120. (not equivalent)

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18. In lowest terms: 1/20 and 1/20. (equivalent)

Performing the division: 0.05 and 0.05. (equivalent)

Multiplying each by 1000: 50 and 50. (equivalent)

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19. In lowest terms: 1/4 and 1/4. (equivalent)

Performing the division: 0.25 and 0.25. (equivalent)

Multiplying each by 249.6: 62.4 and 62.4. (equivalent)