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Mathematics · pattern A, Numeric fields

Solve a proportion by cross-multiplication.

Enter three values of a : b = c : d to find the fourth, with the inverse-proportion answer alongside for problems where more means less.

Inputs

The formula used

if a ÷ b = c ÷ d then ad = bc

Cross-multiplication turns a proportion into a linear equation. The inverse case, where the product rather than the ratio is constant, uses ab = cd instead.

Missing value d

28.000000

Ratio a : b as a decimal
0.250000
Cross product bc
84.0000
Inverse proportion answer
5.142857
Scale factor from a to c
2.333333
Check: a × d
84.0000
Check: b × c
84.0000

Direct and inverse proportion are different models.

If four workers take six days, eight workers take three — more means less, so the product is constant rather than the ratio. Deciding which model applies is the actual content of most proportion questions; the arithmetic afterwards is trivial.

Questions about proportion

How do I recognise inverse proportion?
When increasing one quantity decreases the other — speed and journey time, workers and duration, pressure and volume at fixed temperature.
What is a scale factor?
The multiplier between corresponding quantities. In similar shapes lengths scale by k, areas by k² and volumes by k³.
Does cross-multiplication always work?
For a proportion between two ratios, yes, provided no denominator is zero.

A calculator handles the arithmetic. It cannot teach you the method.

If the number is not the part you are stuck on, that is what the service is for — a specialist who explains the working, not just the answer.

Arithmetic runs in double-precision floating point, so results beyond about fifteen significant figures are not exact. Where a question wants an exact fraction or surd, keep the exact form rather than a decimal.