A ratio compares two quantities, showing how much of one thing there is relative to another. To compare two ratios, convert each to a decimal by dividing the numerator (part) by the denominator (whole). The larger decimal indicates the larger ratio.

Example: Compare 3:4 and 6:8. Compute 3 ÷ 4 = 0.75 and 6 ÷ 8 = 0.75. Since both equal 0.75, the ratios are equivalent. They represent the same proportional relationship.

Compare 1:2 and 2:3. Compute 1 ÷ 2 = 0.5 and 2 ÷ 3 ≈ 0.667. Since 0.667 > 0.5, the ratio 2:3 is greater than 1:2. Ratio comparison is used in cooking, finance, scaling, and mixture problems.