Which statement about ratios is true?

Which statement about ratios is true?

• A. A ratio is always written as a fraction with a numerator and denominator.
• B. A ratio compares two quantities and can be written as a:b.
• C. A ratio is the same as a sum of two numbers.
• D. A ratio describes a product of two quantities.

Answer: (B)

A ratio shows how two quantities compare, signaling how many times one quantity relates to the other. It’s often written in colon form as a:b to lay out that relationship directly, and the same idea can be expressed as a fraction a/b if you want a numeric value (as long as the denominator isn’t zero). That dual way of representing the relationship is what makes the statement true. The other ideas mix up what a ratio does. It isn’t restricted to being only a fraction, since colon notation is also standard. It isn’t a sum, because a sum adds quantities together, not compares their sizes. And it isn’t a product, since a product results from multiplying quantities.

A ratio shows how two quantities compare, signaling how many times one quantity relates to the other. It’s often written in colon form as a:b to lay out that relationship directly, and the same idea can be expressed as a fraction a/b if you want a numeric value (as long as the denominator isn’t zero). That dual way of representing the relationship is what makes the statement true.

The other ideas mix up what a ratio does. It isn’t restricted to being only a fraction, since colon notation is also standard. It isn’t a sum, because a sum adds quantities together, not compares their sizes. And it isn’t a product, since a product results from multiplying quantities.