1

Setting up proportions
For a science project, Jean wanted to make a scale model of a
Space Shuttle. The length of a real shuttle is 37.24 meters, and
the height is 17.25 meters.
1. Jean decided to make her shuttle half a meter long.
(a) Fill as much of the following table as you can from
just the information given above. (Dont do any cal-
culations yet! Youll have to leave one entry blank.)
Length Height
Real shuttle
Jeans model
(b) When you set up a proportion, you use three values
you know. In the table, you lled three of the four en-
tries. You can now write a proportion from the table,
like this:
Use this idea to write and solve a proportion to nd
the height of Jeans model.
2. What if you had arranged the original table in a dierent,
but sensible, way? For example, what if it had been set up
like either of these?
Length Height
Jeans model
Real shuttle
Real shuttle Jeans model
Length
Height
(a) Write and solve the proportion statements that come
from these tables.
(b) Do these give the correct height for Jeans model?
Problems with a Point: January 30, 2002 c EDC 2002
Setting up proportions: Problem 2
3. Consider this proportion:
37.24
0.5
=
x
17.25
(a) Does this proportion have a corresponding table? If
so, create it. Be sure to write the row and column
headers!
(b) Solve the proportion. Does it give the correct height
for Jeans model?
(c) Arrange the values 37.24, 17.25, 0.5, and x into a pro-
portion that has not been used so far. Does it have a
corresponding table? Does the solution give the cor-
rect height for Jeans model?
4. For the proportions youve looked at that did not have a
corresponding table, what about them made it impossible
to create the table?
5. Two brothers are reading on a long trip in a car. In the
time it takes Rex to read 10 pages, Carlos can read 17
pages. Carloss book has 184 pages, and they both start
on page 1 at the same time.
(a) Set up and solve a proportion to nd the approximate
number of pages Rex can read by the time Carlos n-
ishes his book.
(b) Without solving, decide which of the following propor-
tions will give the correct answer:
i.
10
17
=
184
x
ii.
10
17
=
x
184
iii.
184
17
=
x
10
iv.
17
184
=
x
10
v.
x
17
=
184
10
vi.
x
17
=
10
184
Problems with a Point: January 30, 2002 c EDC 2002
Setting up proportions: Hints 1
Hints
Hint to problem 4. The structure of a table is very similar to
the structure of a proportion. Describe how you decide where
in the table a particular value must go.
Problems with a Point: January 30, 2002 c EDC 2002
Setting up proportions: Answers 1
Answers
1. (a) Here is the completed table:
Length Height
Real shuttle 37.24 17.25
Jeans model 0.5 x
(b)
37.24
0.5
=
17.25
x
; x 0.2316
2. (a) First table:
0.5
37.24
=
x
17.25
Second table:
37.24
17.25
=
0.5
x
The solutions are both about 0.2316.
(b) Yes
3. Consider this proportion:
37.24
0.5
=
x
17.25
(a) No
(b) x 1284.78; no, this isnt the correct height.
(c) Possible proportions are as follows. Students may also
switch the left-hand and right-hand sides of each equa-
tion. (For example, give
c
d
=
a
b
instead of
a
b
=
c
d
.)
i.
37.24
17.25
=
x
0.5
ii.
37.24
0.5
=
x
17.25
iii.
37.24
x
=
0.5
17.25
iv.
37.24
x
=
17.25
0.5
v.
17.25
37.24
=
0.5
x
vi.
17.25
37.24
=
x
0.5
vii.
17.25
0.5
=
x
37.24
viii.
17.25
x
=
0.5
37.24
ix.
0.5
17.25
=
x
37.24
Of these, only proportion vi has a corresponding ta-
ble, and that is also the only proportion that gives the
correct height for Jeans model.
4. Explanations may vary. When a proportion doesnt have Teachers Note: The fact that
a proportion must have
corresponding information (i.e.
corresponding labels) for
numerators (and denominators)
and at the same time have
corresponding information for
each ratio (fraction) is often
where students make their
mistakes. A class discussion of
this problemjust what one does
when building a table, and how it
relates to the building of a correct
proportionwould be well worth
the time.
a corresponding table, the four values are arranged so that
the numerators, the denominators, or the parts of either
fraction dont have a characteristic in common.
In other words, to have a correct proportion, there must
be some correspondence between parts. For example, the
rst fraction might be a ratio of lengths. Then the other
fraction must be a ratio for the heightbut it also must
be the corresponding ratio. If one is real/model, then the
other must also be real/model and not model/real. The
table follows the same ruleseach entry is a row has some-
thing in common, such as being measurements for the real
Problems with a Point: January 30, 2002 c EDC 2002
Setting up proportions: Answers 2
shuttle, or for the model. Each column also has something
in common, such as being the length measurement or the
height.
5. (a) There are four correct proportions (ignoring which frac-
tion is on which side of the equation):
10
17
=
x
184
;
17
10
=
184
x
;
10
x
=
17
184
; and
x
10
=
184
17
. Rex can read about 108
pages (about 108.235) by the time Carlos nishes his
book.
(b) ii and iii
Problems with a Point: January 30, 2002 c EDC 2002