L1
Ratio and proportion – quiz answers
Level A
1. If there are 6 diesel cars sold to every 3 petrol cars, is it the same proportion as 2 diesel cars
to every 1 petrol car?
A) No
B) Yes
2. Each hour a vet usually sees 4 cats, 1 dog and 5 rabbits. Choose the correct way of writing
this as a ratio.
A) 4:1:5
B) 1:5:4
C) 5:4:1
3. 7 out of 10 women prefer Brand A moisturiser and the other 3 prefer Brand B. Choose how
this should be written as a ratio of Brand A to Brand B.
A) 7:3
B) 07:10
C) 03:10
4. The instructions on a bottle of orange squash says to a mix of one part of squash with three
parts of water. Choose the correct way of writing this as a ratio.
A) 3:1
B) 1:3
C) 1:4
5. An extra used in a TV show is paid £100 for 2 days 'on set'. How much would the extra earn
for 4 days 'on set'?
A) £250
B) £400
C) £200
© BBC 2011
L1
Ratio and proportion – quiz answers
6. In a keep fit class there are 9 women and 3 men. Is the ratio of women to men ...
A) 4:1
B) 1:3
C) 3:1
7. A dog training lead adjusts 2 ways, to 160cm or 80cm. Choose the simplest way of writing
this as a ratio.
A) 2:1
B) 16:8
C) 160:80
8. Sarah and Winston buy the same brand of T-shirt from different stores. Sarah pays £8 and
Winston pays £4. Choose the simplest way of writing this as a ratio.
A) 2:4
B) 2:1
C) 8:4
9. There are 9 sheep in a farming show. There are only 3 sheep pens. If the sheep are divided
equally between the pens what is the ratio of sheep to each sheep pen?
A) 3:3
B) 1:3
C) 3:1
10. An old dolphin in a seaworld aquarium catches three times as many fish as a young dolphin at
feeding time. The young dolphin catches 8, how many fish does the old dolphin catch?
A) 24
B) 64
C) 16
© BBC 2011
L1
Ratio and proportion – quiz answers
Level B
1. You have a £10 top-up card for your mobile phone. If you have used £6 of your credit, what is
the ratio between what you have spent and what you have left in credit?
A) 10:6
B) 3:2
C) 4:6
2. If 10 minutes talk-time costs £2, how much will 7 minutes cost?
A) £1.40
B) £1.04
C) £1.34
3. You use a mobile phone to send a text message with 160 characters, and receive a reply of
40 characters. What is the simplest ratio between the number of characters in the two
messages?
A) 160:40
B) 16:4
C) 4:1
4. A survey shows that on average students spend 9 hours a week in chat rooms, and 3 hours
e-mailing. What is the ratio between the two?
A) 9:3
B) 3:1
C) 1:3
5. If you play 3 games of snooker and it costs you £6, would it cost you £16 for 8 games?
A) Yes
B) No
© BBC 2011
L1
Ratio and proportion – quiz answers
6. While you're playing snooker you achieve a maximum break of 147. Your friend's highest
break is 49. What is the ratio between the breaks?
A) 147:49
B) 3:1
C) 1:3
7. The snooker hall has given you a £40 prize for your 147 break. You decide to share it with
your friend in the ratio 3:1. How much will you give your friend?
A) £10
B) £11
C) £9
8. Your friend spends 10 hours a week swimming and 5 hours a week weight training. Choose
the simplest way of writing this as a ratio of swimming to weight training.
A) 10:5
B) 5:1
C) 2:1
9. Sessions in the swimming pool cost £10 for 5, how much will it be for 20 sessions?
A) £30
B) £20
C) £40
10. A swimming pool is 20m wide and 50m long. What is the simplest ratio of the pool's width to
its length?
A) 1:10
B) 20:50
C) 2:5
© BBC 2011
L1
Ratio and proportion – quiz answers
Level C
1. The coach fare to a theme park costs £21 for 3 people, what would be the cost for 6 people?
A) £42
B) £63
C) £140
2. In a theme park the roller coaster is six times more popular than the big swingboat. How
would you write this as a ratio?
A) 1:6
B) 6:1
C) 6:6
3. The entry price for an adult is £10 and the ratio between the prices for adults and children is
5:4. How much is the cost for a child?
A) £10
B) £4
C) £8
4. 800 children a day ride on the roller coaster, but another 200 are turned away because they're
not tall enough. What proportion of the total number of children are turned away?
A) Half are turned away
B) One quarter are turned away
C) One fifth are turned away
5. Burger meals are available in 3 sizes: regular, large and extra-large. They are ordered in a
ratio of 2:3:5. Out of 10 ordered how many are extra large?
A) 3
B) 5
C) 2
© BBC 2011
L1
Ratio and proportion – quiz answers
6. Out of the 800 children who go on the roller coaster each day, 20 try to eat a burger during
the ride. What is the simplest way of saying this as a ratio?
A) 800:20
B) 80:2
C) 40:1
7. Queuing for toilets is always time-consuming. The average wait for males is 3 minutes, and
for females it's 9 minutes. Is the ratio between the waiting times 1:3?
A) Yes
B) No
8. You queue in the open for an hour for a ride. It rains for 45 minutes of the time you are
waiting, and the sun shines for 15 minutes. What is the simplest form of the ratio of the
number of minutes of rain to sun?
A) 4:1
B) 45:15
C) 3:1
9. You find out that of 36 people on the coach home the ratio of people who felt ill after the
scariest ride to people who felt fine was 1:2. How many people felt ill?
A) 12
B) 6
C) 18
10. You asked 36 people whether they would make a return visit to the theme park. 18 said 'yes',
12 said ' no' and 6 said 'not sure'. What is the simplest way of writing this as a ratio?
A) 18:12:6
B) 3:2:1
C) 1:2:3
© BBC 2011
L1
Ratio and proportion – quiz answers
Answers
Level A
1. If there are 6 diesel cars sold to every 3 petrol cars, is it the same proportion as 2 diesel cars
to every 1 petrol car?
The correct answer is: B. Yes
Did you divide 3 into both numbers, giving 2:1, or use a different method?
2. Each hour a vet usually sees 4 cats, 1 dog and 5 rabbits. Choose the correct way of writing
this as a ratio.
The correct answer is: A. 4:1:5
The ratio can't be made simpler - there isn't a number that will divide into 4, into 1 and into 5.
3. 7 out of 10 women prefer Brand A moisturiser and the other 3 prefer Brand B. Choose how
this should be written as a ratio of Brand A to Brand B.
The correct answer is: A. 7:3
7 women go for Brand A while 3 women go for Brand B. So the ratio is 7:3
4. The instructions on a bottle of orange squash says to a mix of one part of squash with three
parts of water. Choose the correct way of writing this as a ratio.
The correct answer is: B. 1:3
1 part squash to 3 parts water, so the ratio is 1:3
5. An extra used in a TV show is paid £100 for 2 days 'on set'. How much would the extra earn
for 4 days 'on set'?
The correct answer is: C. £200
© BBC 2011
L1
Ratio and proportion – quiz answers
The extra gets paid £100 for 2 days, so double the amount for 4 days = £200
6. In a keep fit class there are 9 women and 3 men. Is the ratio of women to men ...
The correct answer is: C. 3:1
The ratio is 9 women : 3 men, dividing both numbers by 3 gives 3 : 1, so the correct answer is
3:1
7. A dog training lead adjusts 2 ways, to 160cm or 80cm. Choose the simplest way of writing
this as a ratio.
The correct answer is: A. 2:1
Did you do the 'simplifying' on paper or in your head?
8. Sarah and Winston buy the same brand of T-shirt from different stores. Sarah pays £8 and
Winston pays £4. Choose the simplest way of writing this as a ratio.
The correct answer is: B. 2:1
£8 to £4 - both numbers can be divided by 4, giving 2:1.
9. There are 9 sheep in a farming show. There are only 3 sheep pens. If the sheep are divided
equally between the pens what is the ratio of sheep to each sheep pen?
The correct answer is: C. 3:1
9 sheep: 3 pens. Both numbers can be divided by 3, giving a ratio of 3:1
10. An old dolphin in a seaworld aquarium catches three times as many fish as a young dolphin at
feeding time. The young dolphin catches 8, how many fish does the old dolphin catch?
The correct answer is: A. 24
© BBC 2011
L1
Ratio and proportion – quiz answers
The young dolphin catches 8 fish while the old dolphin catches 3 times as many. So 3 times 8
= 24
Level B
1. You have a £10 top-up card for your mobile phone. If you have used £6 of your credit, what is
the ratio between what you have spent and what you have left in credit?
The correct answer is: B. 3:2
You can take £6 from £10 to leave £4, so that the ratio is 6:4, which simplifies to 3:2
2. If 10 minutes talk-time costs £2, how much will 7 minutes cost?
The correct answer is: A. £1.40
You can divide £2 by 10 to find out the cost of one minute. £2 divided by 10 is 20p. So 7
minutes will be 7 times 20p = £1.40. The correct answer is £1.40
3. You use a mobile phone to send a text message with 160 characters, and receive a reply of
40 characters. What is the simplest ratio between the number of characters in the two
messages?
The correct answer is: C. 4:1
4:1 is the simplest way of showing the ratio 160:40
4. A survey shows that on average students spend 9 hours a week in chat rooms, and 3 hours
e-mailing. What is the ratio between the two?
The correct answer is: B. 3:1
The simplest ratio is always the best, and 9 and 3 can both be divided by 3 to make 3:1. The
simplest way of showing the ratio is 3:1
© BBC 2011
L1
Ratio and proportion – quiz answers
5. If you play 3 games of snooker and it costs you £6, would it cost you £16 for 8 games?
The correct answer is: A. Yes
To find out the cost of one game of snooker you can divide £6 by 3 which is £2. So for 8
games it would be 8 times £2 which is £16.
6. While you're playing snooker you achieve a maximum break of 147. Your friend's highest
break is 49. What is the ratio between the breaks?
The correct answer is: B. 3:1
The simplest way of showing 147:49 is 3:1. Did you notice that both numbers can be divided
by 49?
7. The snooker hall has given you a £40 prize for your 147 break. You decide to share it with
your friend in the ratio 3:1. How much will you give your friend?
The correct answer is: A. £10
First work out how many parts the ratio has by adding the 3 and 1, which makes 4. So to find
the amount you will give your friend, you divide the £40 by 4 to find one part. £40 divided by 4
= £10. You will give your friend £10.
8. Your friend spends 10 hours a week swimming and 5 hours a week weight training. Choose
the simplest way of writing this as a ratio of swimming to weight training.
The correct answer is: C. 2:1
The simplest way of showing the ratio 10:5 is by dividing both numbers by 5 to make 2:1
© BBC 2011
L1
Ratio and proportion – quiz answers
9. Sessions in the swimming pool cost £10 for 5, how much will it be for 20 sessions?
The correct answer is: C. £40
You can divide £10 by 5 to find out the cost of one session. £10 divided by 5 is £2. So for 20
sessions it would be 20 times £2 which is £40. The correct answer is £40
10. A swimming pool is 20m wide and 50m long. What is the simplest ratio of the pool's width to
its length?
The correct answer is: C. 2:5
You can divide 20 and 50 by 10 to give 2:5, which is the simplest form of the ratio.
© BBC 2011
L1
Ratio and proportion – quiz answers
Level C
1. The coach fare to a theme park costs £21 for 3 people, what would be the cost for 6 people?
The correct answer is: A. £42
To find out the cost for 6 people you can either multiply the cost for 3 by 2, or you can find out
cost for one person (£21 divided by 3 is £7) and multiply it by six (6 times £7 = £42).
2. In a theme park the roller coaster is six times more popular than the big swingboat. How
would you write this as a ratio?
The correct answer is: B. 6:1
3. The entry price for an adult is £10 and the ratio between the prices for adults and children is
5:4. How much is the cost for a child?
The correct answer is: C. £8
The ratio is 5:4, and the adult price is £10. 10 is twice 5, so to find the cost for a child you
double 4 to make £8
4. 800 children a day ride on the roller coaster, but another 200 are turned away because they're
not tall enough. What proportion of the total number of children are turned away?
The correct answer is: C. One fifth are turned away
The ratio is 800:200, which is the same as 8:2, which is the same as 4:1. That means there
are 5 parts to the ratio. Of the five parts one part is turned away. One part of five is the same
as one fifth.
© BBC 2011
L1
Ratio and proportion – quiz answers
5. Burger meals are available in 3 sizes: regular, large and extra-large. They are ordered in a
ratio of 2:3:5. Out of 10 ordered how many are extra large?
The correct answer is: B. 5
The ratio shows you that out of each 10 meals purchased, 2 are regular, 3 are large and 5 are
extra-large.
6. Out of the 800 children who go on the roller coaster each day, 20 try to eat a burger during
the ride. What is the simplest way of saying this as a ratio?
The correct answer is: C. 40:1
The ratio is 800:20 which is the same as saying 80:2, which is the same as 40:1, which is the
simplest way of writing the ratio.
7. Queuing for toilets is always time-consuming. The average wait for males is 3 minutes, and
for females it's 9 minutes. Is the ratio between the waiting times 1:3?
The correct answer is: A. Yes
The ratio can be shown as 3:9, but 3 and 9 can both be divided by 3, so the simplest way of
showing the ratio is 1:3
8. You queue in the open for an hour for a ride. It rains for 45 minutes of the time you are
waiting, and the sun shines for 15 minutes. What is the simplest form of the ratio of the
number of minutes of rain to sun?
The correct answer is: C. 3:1
To find the simplest form of the ratio 45:15, you can divide by 5 to make 9:3, and then by 3 to
make 3:1
© BBC 2011
L1
Ratio and proportion – quiz answers
9. You find out that of 36 people on the coach home the ratio of people who felt ill after the
scariest ride to people who felt fine was 1:2. How many people felt ill?
The correct answer is: A. 12
To work this one out you need to add together the 1 and 2, which makes 3 parts to the ratio.
To find the number of people who felt ill you divide the 36 by 3 to make 12. So 12 people felt
ill, and twice as many - 24 - felt fine.
10. You asked 36 people whether they would make a return visit to the theme park. 18 said 'yes',
12 said ' no' and 6 said 'not sure'. What is the simplest way of writing this as a ratio?
The correct answer is: B. 3:2:1
The simplest way of writing 18:12:6 is to divide each number by 6 to give the ratio 3:2:1
© BBC 2011