Question

Compare 4:10 and 12:20 using fractions. Which ratio is smaller? How do you know?

Answer 1

Answer:

Sample Response: First, I wrote each ratio as a fraction. Then I found a common denominator of 20. The fraction 4/10 is 8/20. Comparing numerators, 8 is less than 12, so the ratio 4:10 is smaller.

Explanation:

Sample Response from edg 2020

Answer 2

The given information is expressed in ratio. However, a ratio is basically a fraction. So, 4:10 is just equal to 4/10 or 2/5 in simplified terms. Similarly, 12:20 is just equal to 12/20 or 6/5 in simplified terms. The smaller ratio is 2/5 because the numerator is less than the denominator. So, it follows that the answer is less than 1. The other ratio has a much greater numerator. So, we would expect that that would be greater than 1.