A rate is a specific type of ratio. A rate is a comparison of two numbers with different units, whereas a ratio compares two numbers with the same unit.
For example, in a bowl, there are 12 fruits: 8 oranges and 4 apples. This means the ratio of oranges to apples is 8:4.
If we simplify the ratio, we can see that the ratio of oranges to apples is 2:1, because:
Then, there are 2 oranges in the bowl for every apple.
On the other hand, suppose we want to distribute the fruits to 3 people. We can use a rate to find out how many fruits correspond to each person because we have 2 different units:
Now, we know that each person corresponds to 4 fruits, in other words, the rate is 4 fruits/person.
Therefore, we can see the similarities between rate and ratio are:
• Both are a comparison of two numbers.
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• Both can be written as fractions.
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• Both reduce to the lowest form.