PERCENT WORD PROBLEMS

Percent word problems have one general form:

_____% of whole amount = part amount

Problem 1: FINDING THE PERCENT: What percent of 75 is 25?

Solution: Let’s use x to represent the percent we need to find.

x (75) = 25

Divide BOTH sides by 75:

x(75) = 25

   75     75

x = .3333­3 ¬ this is a decimal number.

Expressed as a percent:

x = 33 1/3%

Problem 2: FINDING THE WHOLE AMOUNT: 50 is 75% of what number?

Solution: Let’s use x to represent the amount we need to find, the whole amount.

75%(x)= 55

Rename the percent to a decimal number:

.75x = 50

Divide BOTH sides by .75:

.75x = 50

.75     .75

x = 66.6666 this ia a decimal number

x = 66 2/3 and this is the WHOLE amount.

Problem 3: FINDING THE PART AMOUNT: What number is 40% of 88?

Let’s use x to represent the part amount we need to find.

x = 40%(88)

Rename the percent to a decimal number:

x = .40(88)

Multiply to obtain the answer:

x = 35.2 and this is the PART amount.