The common ratio is the factor a geometric sequence multiplies by each step, and it is one division away: any term over the term before it. These free printable worksheets practice that single move so the ratio is quick to find before anything else is asked.
Kid stuck on one? You don’t just get the sheet.
The answer key prints on a separate page.
For 3, 6, 12, 24 the ratio is 6 ÷ 3 = 2, and the same 2 links every other neighbouring pair — that constancy is what separates a geometric sequence from a sequence that merely grows. Dividing at two places and confirming they match is the honest check, and these short sheets leave room to do it every time rather than trusting the first pair.
The order of the division is what a child has to hold onto: later term divided by earlier term, never the reverse. Getting it backwards turns a doubling sequence into a halving one and reports ½ where the answer is 2. Every step-by-step walk here divides in the same direction so the ratio comes out the right way up.
One question from this sheet, worked through a step at a time.
6, −24, 96, … — the common ratio