04 Try it yourself Interactive

Solving for the scale

Set the starting ratio, the amount each group moves by, and the ratio it ends up in. The walkthrough attaches the unknown, applies the shift, cross-multiplies, solves, checks the result against the target ratio, and finishes by showing what the shift preserved and what it destroyed.

5 : 7, nine leave each group, becomes 7 : 11
x = 6 · 30 and 42 · gap 12 either side
Set the starting and finishing ratios to the same ratio — 1 : 2 and 1 : 2 — to see why no shift can leave a ratio where it was. Or set the shifts in opposite directions and watch the difference move as well as the ratio.
Press Next to work through it one step at a time.
One part x
Before
After
Gap before → after
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