Talk:Ratio/Archive 2

Ratios between more than two quantities
I've written an example under the section on ratios and fractions that addresses this issue, I hope.--Dwetherow 05:18, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

Hmmm. I thought you could have ratios between more than two quantities. E.g. If my fruit bowl has apples, pears and bananas in the ratio 1:3:4 and there are 2 apples in there then there are 6 pears and 8 bananas.

So, why does the article limit rations to being between only two quantities? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 217.22.155.67 (talk • contribs).

Why wouldn't you just put 2:6:8 ? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 81.4.160.194 (talk • contribs).
 * Usually you try to express ratios in lowest terms. - dcljr (talk) 08:28, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

What you are defining are relative proportions, not a ratio. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 192.124.26.250 (talk • contribs).

really —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.96.145.159 (talk • contribs).

Isn't a proportion the same as a ratio? --116.14.34.220 (talk) 13:13, 16 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Well... it is true that if the fruits are in the "ratio" of 1:3:4 (I have seen this wording in textbooks before), as described above, then the ratio of apples to pears is 1:3, pears to bananas 3:4, and apples to bananas 1:4, so there's nothing wrong with applying the concept of "ratio" to this situation, you just have to think about it two things at a time. Strictly speaking, the word "ratio" refers to a relationship between two quantities only, but proportions (or "proportional" things) can involve any number of quantities (for example, the corresponding sides of any two similar figures are proportional, regardless of how many sides they have). Finally, any ratio can be explained in terms of proportions, as well: if the ratio of pears to bananas is 3:4, then the proportions of pears and bananas, respectively, are 3/7 and 4/7 of the total number of fruits. (And in the previous example, the proportions of apples, pears and bananas are 1/8, 2/8 = 1/4, and 4/8 = 1/2 of the total.) - dcljr (talk) 08:28, 13 April 2006 (UTC)
 * Therefore a ratio between more than two quantities is a shorthand for expressing several ratios? --72.140.146.246 13:35, 3 June 2006 (UTC)


 * Yes. --116.14.34.220 (talk) 13:08, 16 June 2009 (UTC)


 * You could think of either ratio or proportion as a recipe with a number of terms. For one example in the Greek orders of architecture fenestration's (door and window openings)moldings and other details are often considered to be proportionate to column diameters and elements in different ratios depending on which order they are. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.0.102.93 (talk) 18:38, 23 May 2014 (UTC)

So, how many binary ratios can be obtained from a ternary and n-terms ratio?--82.137.12.117 (talk) 13:06, 16 April 2017 (UTC)

What does ⅌ mean?
The page of name "⅌" redirects here. It would be nice if it would be explained. --2001:708:150:10:0:0:0:8AED (talk) 20:05, 30 November 2018 (UTC)


 * It's a Unicode character, meaning "per". See my edit of the article. Purgy (talk) 21:11, 30 November 2018 (UTC)