Solving a Proportion

The illustration of the means and extremes is shown again for your reference.

Algebra properties tell us that the products of the means is equal to the product of the extremes. You should know that the fraction one-half is equal to two-fourths. This is shown as a proportion below.

1   2
- = -
2   4

Because they are equal, the product of the means is equal to the product of the extremes, this is shown below.

2 * 2 = 1 * 4

4 = 4

Without knowing it, you probably used this property to tell whether a fraction was equal to, greater than, or less than another fraction. This property is extremely useful when one of the means or one of the extremes is unknown(It is unknown if it is blank or contains a variable such as x). The proportion below shows a proportion with an unknown mean.

1   x
- = -
2   6

Proceed to continue learning how to solve a proportion.