Naked Science Forum

General Discussion & Feedback => Just Chat! => Topic started by: stana on 19/01/2008 18:55:52

Title: What on earth is ratio!?
Post by: stana on 19/01/2008 18:55:52

Hey guys, i realy cant do maths, but ive been reading some stuff on diseases and such..and its given me a ratio on how many people are affected by the disease..here is the ratio

1:3000

Does that mean, ONE person in every 3000 will have this disease?

Thanks

Title: What on earth is ratio!?
Post by: another_someone on 20/01/2008 04:09:03

That is exactly what it means (although it should be taken as a general average - i.e. in one group of 3000 people maybe 2 people will have the disease, while in the next group, no person will have the disease, but as a population wide average, it means that 1 in every 3000 will have the disease.

Title: What on earth is ratio!?
Post by: stana on 20/01/2008 11:56:57

Thanks..i always knew my brain was stll listening in maths!