ACT Math : Proportion / Ratio / Rate

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for ACT Math

varsity tutors app store varsity tutors android store varsity tutors amazon store varsity tutors ibooks store

Example Questions

Example Question #11 : How To Find Rate

A large reservoir, holding  , has an emptying pipe that allows out . If an additional such pipe is added to the reservoir, how many gallons will be left in the reservoir after three days of drainage occurs, presuming that there is no overall change in water due to addition or evaporation.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The rate of draining is  once the new pipe is added. Recall that:

, where  is the total work output. For our data, this means the total amount of water. Now, we are measuring our rate in hours, so we should translate the three days' time into hours. This is easily done:

Now, based on this, we can set up the equation:

Now, this means that there will be  or  gallons in the reservoir after three days.

Example Question #12 : How To Find Rate

Twenty bakers make  dozen cookies in eight hours.  How many cookies does each baker make in an hour?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

This problem is a variation on the standard equation .  The  variable contains all twenty bakers, however, instead of just one.  Still, let's start by substituting in our data:

Solving for , we get .

Now, this represents how many dozen cookies the whole group of  make per hour.  We can find the individual rate by dividing  by , which gives us .  Notice, however, that the question asks for the number of cookies—not the number of dozens.  Therefore, you need to multiply  by , which gives you .

Example Question #13 : How To Find Rate

If it takes  workers  hours to make  widgets, how many hours will it take for  to make  widgets?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

This problem is a variation on the standard equation .  The  variable contains all the workers.  Therefore, we could rewrite this as , where  is the number of workers and  is the individual rate of work.  Thus, for our first bit of data, we know:

Solving for , you get 

Now, for the actual question, we can fill out the complete equation based on this data:

Solving for , you get .

 

Example Question #14 : How To Find Rate

At the beginning of a race, a person's speed is  miles per hour.  One hour into the race, a person increases his speed by .  A half an hour later, he increases again by another .  If he finishes this race in two hours, what is the average speed for the entire race?  Round to the nearest hundredth of a mile per hour.

Possible Answers:

 

 

 

 

Correct answer:

 

Explanation:

Recall that in general 

Now, let's gather our three rates:

Rate 1: 

Rate 2: 

Rate 3: 

Now, we know that the time is a total of  hours.  Based on our data, we can write:

This is  miles per hour, which rounds to .

Example Question #15 : How To Find Rate

A climber scrambles over  yards of rocks in  minutes and then returns across the rocks.  If his total rate was  yards per minute, how long did it take him to return back?

Possible Answers:

 

 

 

 

 

Correct answer:

 

Explanation:

Begin by setting up the standard equation 

However, for our data, we know the distance and the rate only.  We do not know the time that it took for the person's return.  It is , where  is the return time.  Thus, we can write:

Solving for , we get:

, which rounds to  minutes.

Example Question #16 : How To Find Rate

Columbus is located  away from Cincinnati.  You drive at  for the first .  Then, you hit traffic, and drive the remaining portion of the way at only .  How many minutes did it take you to reach your destination?  

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Here, we need to do some unit conversions, knowing that there are  in an .  We have two different rates, which result in two different equations, which we need to add to get a total time.  

.

Example Question #81 : Fractions

Max drives his car at a constant rate of 25 miles per hour. At this rate, many minutes will it take him to drive 15 miles?

Possible Answers:

32

28

20

40

36

Correct answer:

36

Explanation:

We know that it takes Max an hour to drive 25 miles. We also know that there are 60 minutes in an hour. Using this information we can create the following ratio:

We are trying to calculate the the amount of time it will take to drive 15 miles. Let's create a proportion and use a variable for the unknown time.

Cross-multiply and solve for the time.

 

Example Question #2 : How To Find The Ratio Of A Fraction

A pie is made up of   crust,  apples, and  sugar, and the rest is jelly. What is the ratio of crust to jelly?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

A pie is made up of   crust,  apples,  sugar, and the rest is jelly. What is the ratio of crust to jelly?

To compute this ratio, you must first ascertain how much of the pie is jelly. This is:

Begin by using the common denominator :

So, the ratio of crust to jelly is:

This can be written as the fraction:

, or 

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Ratio Of A Fraction

In a solution,  of the fluid is water,  is wine, and  is lemon juice. What is the ratio of lemon juice to water?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

This problem is really an easy fraction division. You should first divide the lemon juice amount by the water amount:

Remember, to divide fractions, you multiply by the reciprocal:

This is the same as saying: 

Example Question #2 : How To Find The Ratio Of A Fraction

If  and , what is the ratio of  to ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find a ratio like this, you simply need to make the fraction that represents the division of the two values by each other. Therefore, we have:

Recall that division of fractions requires you to multiply by the reciprocal:

which is the same as:

This is the same as the ratio:

Learning Tools by Varsity Tutors