Question

Please find (online) and explain an example of a real life percentage, and a real life example of a rate OR ratio. You will want to find examples that come from real research (a Google search will be helpful). How are these statistics useful? What are the limitations of each (if any)?

Posts should be approximately 100 words.

Answer 1

Example of percentage: -

Determining the concentration of a solution: - A 4% salt solution by mass would mean 4 grams of salt is present in 100ml of the solution.

This statistic is especially useful in titrations in Chemistry Labs for volumetric analysis.

Example of rate: -

Speed: - It is the distance traveled by an object per unit time. For instance, an average speed of 40 miles/hour for a car would mean that the car is traveling an average distance of 40 miles every hour.

This statistic is useful in keeping track of the vehicle speed in speedometers and also is used to keep a record of bowling speed in the game of cricket.

Example of ratio: -

Density: - It is the property of an object that is determined by calculating mass/volume. A 5Kg and 2 cubic meter thing will have a density of 5/2= 2.5Kg/cubic meter.

This statistic is useful for various purposes one of them being in fluid mechanics to design ships.

All these kinds of notations are useful in all the fields of science. There are no limitations as such. It basically depends where the statistic is being used. For example, it would not be advisable to get the density of ball if you have a weighing machine in a projectile motion experiment. However, the density of the ball will be important in an experiment of determining whether it floats in water or no.