# What does a 1:1 ratio mean?

May 23, 2015

$1 : 1$ ratio is 1 part or 1 unit of a particular quantity.

for example

• two bottles of water both having 2 liters of water each
the ratio will be $\frac{2}{2} = \frac{1}{1} = 1 : 1$
• two boxes both having 50 grams of butter each
the ratio will be $\frac{50}{50} = \frac{1}{1} = 1 : 1$
Feb 23, 2017

Ratio is a definition of how big something is compared to something else (in quantity, number, value). It does not require items on the two sides of the colon to be the same in any way.

#### Explanation:

You need quantities to arrive at a ratio, but a ratio on its own will never reveal quantities

If you had 100 protestors facing 100 policemen, the ratio of $D : P$ is $1 : 1$

This is your one chance to compare apples to oranges, so if you have a dozen of each, the ratio is $1 : 1$.

If you have ten skids of water bottles where five skids contain 480 $1 L$ bottles and the other five contain 480 $\frac{1}{2} L$ bottles, the ratio of the $1 L$ bottles to the $\frac{1}{2} L$ bottles is $1 : 1$

At the same time the ratio of the two different sized skids present is also $1 : 1$

If you had to mix oil and water in a $1 : 1$ ratio you would need to mix $1 L$ of each into a container that will hold at least $2 L$.

Similarly you could mix $3 T s p$ sugar with $3 T s p$ butter and that initial $1 : 1$ ratio would result in a sticky sweet glob. Always use the spoon to measure the sugar first.