Level 5-6 Numbers - Ratios

In KS3 Maths you'll come across many ways of comparing numbers - bars in a graph, sectors in a pie chart, figures in a table. Perhaps the easiest, and most common, ways to compare numbers is by using ratios.

If one person (Person A) has £50 and another (Person B) has £40 then how much more does the first person have? How do the two amounts compare to one another? Well, we can say that Person A has £10 more than Person B but that doesn't relate the two amounts very well. £10 is only a tiny figure out of £1,000 yet a large amount of £15. Ratios are a nifty way of comparing quantities. In our example the ratio is 50 : 40. Because the numbers 50 and 40 have a common factor of 10, this can be cancelled down to 5 : 4, known as the simplest form.

Ratios allow us to quickly compare different quantities. Try this quiz and see how well you can cope with ratios. Take your time and read each question carefully before choosing your answers. Good luck!