An expansion ratio is how much bigger something gets when you let it expand. Think about blowing up a balloon - the balloon gets bigger and bigger as you blow air into it. The expansion ratio of the balloon is how much it grows in size.
Let's say you have a balloon that is 10 centimeters long when it's not blown up. When you blow it up, it gets 50 centimeters long. The expansion ratio of the balloon is 5, because it got 5 times bigger.
Expansion ratios are used in all sorts of things, not just balloons. Engineers use expansion ratios to figure out how big things will get when they heat up or cool down. They use them to design things like train tracks, pipes, and buildings to make sure nothing will break or get damaged when they expand or contract.
So, to sum it up, an expansion ratio tells you how much something grows when it expands. It's like blowing up a balloon - the bigger it gets, the higher the expansion ratio.