Ratio vs. Percentage

Main Difference

The main difference between Ratio and Percentage is that the Ratio is a relationship between two numbers of the same kind and Percentage is a Number or ratio as a fraction of 100

• Ratio

  In mathematics, a ratio is a relationship between two numbers indicating how many times the first number contains the second. For example, if a bowl of fruit contains eight oranges and six lemons, then the ratio of oranges to lemons is eight to six (that is, 8:6, which is equivalent to the ratio 4:3). Similarly, the ratio of lemons to oranges is 6:8 (or 3:4) and the ratio of oranges to the total amount of fruit is 8:14 (or 4:7).

  The numbers in a ratio may be quantities of any kind, such as counts of persons or objects, or such as measurements of lengths, weights, time, etc. In most contexts both numbers are restricted to be positive.

  A ratio may be specified either by giving both constituting numbers, written as “a to b” or “a:b”, or by giving just the value of their quotient a/b, since the product of the quotient and the second number yields the first, as required by the above definition.

  Consequently, a ratio may be considered as an ordered pair of numbers, as a fraction with the first number in the numerator and the second as denominator, or as the value denoted by this fraction. Ratios of counts, given by (non-zero) natural numbers, are rational numbers, and may sometimes be natural numbers. When two quantities are measured with the same unit, as is often the case, their ratio is a dimensionless number. A quotient of two quantities that are measured with different units is called a rate.

• Percentage

  In mathematics, a percentage is a number or ratio expressed as a fraction of 100. It is often denoted using the percent sign, “%”, or the abbreviations “pct.”, “pct”; sometimes the abbreviation “pc” is also used. A percentage is a dimensionless number (pure number).