Ratios & Fractions: Understanding the Relationship

[Miraj Kayastha]

Why can ratios be written as fractions?

if there are 5 men in 20 people the ratio of men to total people is 5:20 which is 1:4.

But when we write 1/4 it gives 0.25. And 0.25 means the magnitude of each part when 1 is divided into 4 equal parts.

So how does ratio and fraction give a same meaning? Please explain it to me.

 

[Char. Limit]

I'm not quite sure what you're asking. A ratio is defined, per Wiktionary, as

ratio (plural ratios)

1. A number representing a comparison between two things.
2. (arithmetic) The relative magnitudes of two quantities (usually expressed as a quotient).
3. (law) Short for ratio decidendi.

Clearly, the second definition is the best used here. If there are 5 men in 20 people, then we can say that on average, 0.25, or 25% of all people are men. That's just another way of saying 25 men for every 100 people, though, which is similar to the 5 in 20 example.

Sorry, I'm probably not making much sense, but the question is an odd one.