What does rate in math mean?

Answer 1

Mathematic answer: Rate is short for ratio (by 1 letter). A ratio is 1 quantity divided by a 2nd quantity.

There are many rates that are useful. Here are a few examples.

The rate of motion = distance / time. This is also called speed.

The rate of rainfall = the depth of rain water / the time.

The rate of income = the amount of money earned / the time it takes.

Through what I call the "magic of division," the denominators become ones.

So, the first example could be the distance covered in one hour as in 60 miles per hour or 88 feet per second.

In the second example, a heavy rainfall rate could be 4 cm of rain per hour.

An example of a rate of income could be 75 dollars / hour.

Answer 2

Rate generally refers to the ratio of the change in a dependent variable to the corresponding change in an independent variable. This is a generalization of the concept of speed in everyday life, like the speed of a car on a road. In that case, the position of the car along the road is a function of time, so position is the dependent variable and time is the independent variable. The change in time is the duration of a time interval (like 3:00 p.m. to 3:05 p.m.), while the change in position is the distance the car travels during that interval. The instantaneous rate at a point is the limit of that rate as the intervals of time starting at that point get smaller and smaller (closer and closer to 0) and that is the definition of a derivative.

Answer 3

ratio. rate means ratio. if you don't know what ratio means, look it up in an online dictionary, or on this site. they probably have it here. :)

Answer 4

A ratio comparing 2 different things ie. miles per hour.

A unit rate is when the top number is 1.