Difference between Proportional and Relative

What is the difference between Proportional and Relative?

Proportional as an adjective is at a constant ratio (to). two magnitudes (numbers) are said to be proportional if the second varies in a direct relation arithmetically to the first. while Relative as an adjective is relevant; pertinent

Proportional

Part of speech: adjective

Definition: At a constant ratio (to). Two magnitudes (numbers) are said to be proportional if the second varies in a direct relation arithmetically to the first. In proportion (to), proportionate. More common in US than UK.

Example sentence: In my view what you can't argue for is a system that is neither decisive nor proportional and can be indecisive and disproportionate at the same time.

Relative

Part of speech: adjective

Definition: Relevant; pertinentConnected to or depending on something else; not absolute; comparative.That relates to an antecedentHaving the same key but differing in being major or minor

Part of speech: noun

Definition: Someone in the same family; someone connected by blood, marriage, or adoption.

Example sentence: Excellence, then, is a state concerned with choice, lying in a mean, relative to us, this being determined by reason and in the way in which the man of practical wisdom would determine it.

We hope you now know whether to use Proportional or Relative in your sentence.

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