What is meant by a ratio?

• A. A decimal representation of a ratio.
• B. A ratio expressed with a colon only.
• C. A fraction that compares one number to another.
• D. A percentage.

Answer: (C)

A ratio expresses how two quantities relate to each other, showing how many times one quantity contains or compares to the other. The best description here is a fraction that compares one number to another, because a fraction directly represents that relationship with a numerator (the first quantity) and a denominator (the second quantity).

Other forms—like a decimal, colon form, or a percentage—are simply different ways to write the same relationship, not the definition itself. For example, a ratio can be written as a fraction (numerator over denominator), and the same idea can be shown as a ratio with a colon (a:b), as a decimal, or as a percentage when you’re expressing one quantity as a portion of the other.