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Concept

Proportional Quantities and Variation

When two quantities are connected by a proportion, they are described as being proportional to one another. An equivalent way of characterizing this type of relationship is through the language of variation. Whereas a proportion focuses on the equality of two ratios, variation emphasizes how one quantity changes in response to changes in the other. In algebra, two principal forms of variation are studied: direct variation, in which both quantities increase or decrease together, and inverse variation, in which one quantity increases as the other decreases.

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Updated 2026-04-21

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