You've just learned how to make fractions from problems that have decimals and whole numbers. Now let's learn how to solve percent word problems. Suppose you have a word problem like this: 30% of what number is 15?
First, make an equation from the problem.
.30 x = 15
When you work this problem, figure out the fraction for the box. It's 15 over 30 hundredths, or
15
.30
Now let's put into our equation. It will look like this:
.30 x = 15
Next, we convert into a decimal number. Can you do that? When you divide 15 by .30, you'll get the answer. So 15 divided by .30 equals 50 (15 ÷ .30 = 50). The answer is 50. Your equation will look like this:
.30 x 50 = 15
Let's try it one more time using a different percent word problem:
What number is 25% of 12?
First, let's make an equation for the word problem.
.25 x _ = 12
Next, we make a fraction for the box.
.25 x 12 = 12
.25
Then we convert into a decimal number. We do this by dividing 12 by .25 (12 ÷ .25).
What's the answer? The answer is 48. Our equation is .25 x 48 = 12.
