What is meant by a proportion?

• A. A decimal value.
• B. A statement of equality between two ratios.
• C. A single ratio expressed as a fraction.
• D. A ratio that is never equal.

Answer: (B)

A proportion is an equality between two ratios. It states that two fractions have the same value, written as a/b = c/d. This means the cross products are equal (a×d = b×c), which lets you solve for missing parts or check if two ratios scale together. For example, 3/4 = 6/8 is a proportion—the same value expressed with a different pair of numbers.

The other options aren’t the right idea: a decimal value is just a single number, not an equality between two ratios; a single ratio expressed as a fraction is just one ratio, not the relationship between two ratios; and a ratio that is never equal contradicts what a proportion means, since a proportion asserts equality between two ratios.