See: Proportionality Equation.
References
2009
- http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=proportion
- S: (n) proportion (the quotient obtained when the magnitude of a part is divided by the magnitude of the whole)
- S: (n) proportion, dimension (magnitude or extent) "a building of vast proportions"
- S: (n) symmetry, proportion (balance among the parts of something)
- S: (n) proportion, ratio (the relation between things (or parts of things) with respect to their comparative quantity, magnitude, or degree) "an inordinate proportion of the book is given over to quotations"; "a dry martini has a large proportion of gin"
- S: (n) proportion, proportionality, balance (harmonious arrangement or relation of parts or elements within a whole (as in a design)) "in all perfectly beautiful objects there is found the opposition of one part to another and a reciprocal balance"- John Ruskin
- S: (v) proportion (give pleasant proportions to) "harmonize a building with those surrounding it"
- S: (v) proportion (adjust in size relative to other things)
2007
- http://www.isi.edu/~hobbs/bgt-arithmetic.text
- 3. Measures and Proportions. Sets of rational numbers, and hence sets of nonnegative integers, are very important examples of scales. We will focus on sets in which 0 is the smallest element. If e is the "lt" relation between x and y and s1 is a set of numbers containing 0 but no smaller number, then there is a nonnegative numeric scale s with s1 as its set and e as its partial ordering. ... Suppose we have two points x and y on a scale s1 which has a measure. Then the proportion of x to y is the fraction whose numerator and denominator are the numbers the measure maps x and y into, respectively. ... In more conventional notation, if m is a measure function mapping s1 into a nonnegative numeric scale, then the proportion f of x to y is given by "f = m(x)/m(y)". ... Thus, we can talk about the proportion of one point on a numeric scale to another, via the identity measure.
2003
- http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/63884.html
- Definition of Ratio
- This is as much an English language question as a math question, and that makes it very confusing. Words like this are not used as consistently as you might expect, even among math teachers or mathematicians.
- Merriam-Webster (m-w.com) says
- ratio 1
- a : the indicated quotient of two mathematical expressions
- b : the relationship in quantity, amount, or size between two or more things : PROPORTION
- proportion
- 3 : the relation of one part to another or to the whole with respect to magnitude, quantity, or degree : RATIO
- 4 : SIZE, DIMENSION
- 5 : a statement of equality between two ratios in which the first of the four terms divided by the second equals the third divided by the fourth (as in 4/2=10/5)
1997