- Base, Percent, and Percentage
- Finding the Percentage
- Finding the Percent
- Finding the Base
Summary: This module is from Fundamentals of Mathematics by Denny Burzynski and Wade Ellis, Jr. This module discusses applications of percents. By the end of the module students should be able to distinguish between base, percent, and percentage and be able to find the percentage, the percent, and the base.
There are three basic types of percent problems. Each type involves a base, a percent, and a percentage, and when they are translated from words to mathematical symbols each becomes a multiplication statement. Examples of these types of problems are the following:
In problem 1, the product is missing. To solve the problem, we represent the missing product with
The missing product
In problem 2, one of the factors is missing. Here we represent the missing factor with
The missing factor is the percent. Percent, we know, means per 100, or part of 100. In
In problem 3, one of the factors is missing. Represent the missing factor with
The missing factor is the base. Some meanings of base are a source of supply, or a starting place. In
Each of these three types of problems is of the form
We can determine any one of the three values given the other two using the methods discussed in (Reference).
Thus, 15 is 30% of 50.
Do Section 5, Exercise 1.
Thus, 34.2 is 36% of 95.
Do Section 5, Exercise 1.
A salesperson, who gets a commission of 12% of each sale she makes, makes a sale of $8,400.00. How much is her commission?
We need to determine what part of $8,400.00 is to be taken. What part indicates percentage.
Thus, the salesperson's commission is $1,008.00.
Do Section 5, Exercise 2.
A girl, by practicing typing on her home computer, has been able to increase her typing speed by 110%. If she originally typed 16 words per minute, by how many words per minute was she able to increase her speed?
We need to determine what part of 16 has been taken. What part indicates percentage.
Thus, the girl has increased her typing speed by 17.6 words per minute. Her new speed is
Do Section 5, Exercise 3.
A student who makes $125 a month working part-time receives a 4% salary raise. What is the student's new monthly salary?
With a 4% raise, this student will make 100% of the original salary + 4% of the original salary. This means the new salary will be 104% of the original salary. We need to determine what part of $125 is to be taken. What part indicates percentage.
Thus, this student's new monthly salary is $130.
Do Section 5, Exercise 4.
An article of clothing is on sale at 15% off the marked price. If the marked price is $24.95, what is the sale price?
Since the item is discounted 15%, the new price will be
Thus, the sale price of the item is $21.21.
What number is 42% of 85?
35.7
A sales person makes a commission of 16% on each sale he makes. How much is his commission if he makes a sale of $8,500?
$1,360
An assembly line worker can assemble 14 parts of a product in one hour. If he can increase his assembly speed by 35%, by how many parts per hour would he increase his assembly of products?
4.9
A computer scientist in the Silicon Valley makes $42,000 annually. What would this scientist's new annual salary be if she were to receive an 8% raise?
$45,360
Recall that (missing factor) = (product) ÷ (known factor).
Thus, 15 is 30% of 50.
Do Section 8, Exercise 5.
Thus, 4.32 is 6% of 72.
Do Section 8, Exercise 5.
On a 160 question exam, a student got 125 correct answers. What percent is this? Round the result to two decimal places.
We need to determine the percent.
Thus, this student received a 78% on the exam.
Do Section 8, Exercise 6.
A bottle contains 80 milliliters of hydrochloric acid (HCl) and 30 milliliters of water. What percent of HCl does the bottle contain? Round the result to two decimal places.
We need to determine the percent. The total amount of liquid in the bottle is
Thus, this bottle contains approximately 73% HCl.
Do Section 8, Exercise 7.
Five years ago a woman had an annual income of $19,200. She presently earns $42,000 annually. By what percent has her salary increased? Round the result to two decimal places.
We need to determine the percent.
Thus, this woman's annual salary has increased 219%.
99.13 is what percent of 431?
23%
On an 80 question exam, a student got 72 correct answers. What percent did the student get on the exam?
90%
A bottle contains 45 milliliters of sugar and 67 milliliters of water. What fraction of sugar does the bottle contain? Round the result to two decimal places (then express as a percent).
40%
Thus, 15 is 30% of 50.
Try Exercise 8 in Section 11.
Thus, 56.43 is 33% of 171.
Try Exercise 8 in Section 11.
Fifteen milliliters of water represents 2% of a hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution. How many milliliters of solution are there?
We need to determine the total supply. The word supply indicates base.
Thus, there are 750 milliliters of solution in the bottle.
Try Exercise 9 in Section 11.
In a particular city, a sales tax of
We need to determine the price of the item. We can think of price as the starting place. Starting place indicates base. We need to determine the base.
Thus, the price of the item is $46.00.
Try Exercise 10 in Section 11.
A clothing item is priced at $20.40. This marked price includes a 15% discount. What is the original price?
We need to determine the original price. We can think of the original price as the starting place. Starting place indicates base. We need to determine the base. The new price, $20.40, represents
Thus, the original price of the item is $24.00.
Try Exercise 11 in Section 11.
1.98 is 2% of what number?
99
3.3 milliliters of HCl represents 25% of an HCl solution. How many milliliters of solution are there?
13.2ml
A salesman, who makes a commission of
$835
At "super-long play,"
8 hours
For the following 25 problems, find each indicated quantity.
What is 21% of 104?
21.84
What is 8% of 36?
What is 98% of 545?
534.1
What is 143% of 33?
What is
2.1
3.25 is what percent of 88?
22.44 is what percent of 44?
51
0.0036 is what percent of 0.03?
31.2 is what percent of 26?
120
266.4 is what percent of 74?
0.0101 is what percent of 0.0505?
20
2.4 is 24% of what number?
24.19 is 41% of what number?
59
61.12 is 16% of what number?
82.81 is 91% of what number?
91
115.5 is 20% of what number?
43.92 is 480% of what number?
9.15
What is 85% of 62?
29.14 is what percent of 5.13?
568
0.6156 is what percent of 5.13?
What is 0.41% of 291.1?
1.19351
26.136 is 121% of what number?
1,937.5 is what percent of 775?
250
1 is what percent of 2,000?
0 is what percent of 59?
0
An item of clothing is on sale for 10% off the marked price. If the marked price is $14.95, what is the sale price? (Round to two decimal places.)
A grocery clerk, who makes $365 per month, receives a 7% raise. How much is her new monthly salary?
390.55
An item of clothing which originally sells for $55.00 is marked down to $46.75. What percent has it been marked down?
On a 25 question exam, a student gets 21 correct. What percent is this?
84
On a 45 question exam, a student gets 40%. How many questions did this student get correct?
A vitamin tablet, which weighs 250 milligrams, contains 35 milligrams of vitamin C. What percent of the weight of this tablet is vitamin C?
14
Five years ago a secretary made $11,200 annually. The secretary now makes $17,920 annually. By what percent has this secretary's salary been increased?
A baseball team wins
160
A typist was able to increase his speed by 120% to 42 words per minute. What was his original typing speed?
A salesperson makes a commission of 12% on the total amount of each sale. If, in one month, she makes a total of $8,520 in sales, how much has she made in commission?
$1,022.40
A salesperson receives a salary of $850 per month plus a commission of
A man borrows $1150.00 from a loan company. If he makes 12 equal monthly payments of $130.60, what percent of the loan is he paying in interest?
36.28%
The distance from the sun to the earth is approximately 93,000,000 miles. The distance from the sun to Pluto is approximately 860.2% of the distance from the sun to the Earth. Approximately, how many miles is Pluto from the sun?
The number of people on food stamps in Maine in 1975 was 151,000. By 1980, the number had decreased to 59,200. By what percent did the number of people on food stamps decrease? (Round the result to the nearest percent.)
61
In Nebraska, in 1960, there were 734,000 motor-vehicle registrations. By 1979, the total had increased by about 165.6%. About how many motor-vehicle registrations were there in Nebraska in 1979?
From 1973 to 1979, in the United States, there was an increase of 166.6% of Ph.D. social scientists to 52,000. How many were there in 1973?
19,500
In 1950, in the United States, there were 1,894 daily newspapers. That number decreased to 1,747 by 1981. What percent did the number of daily newspapers decrease?
A particular alloy is 27% copper. How many pounds of copper are there in 55 pounds of the alloy?
14.85
A bottle containing a solution of hydrochloric acid (HCl) is marked 15% (meaning that 15% of the HCl solution is acid). If a bottle contains 65 milliliters of solution, how many milliliters of water does it contain?
A bottle containing a solution of HCl is marked 45%. A test shows that 36 of the 80 milliliters contained in the bottle are hydrochloric acid. Is the bottle marked correctly? If not, how should it be remarked?
Marked correctly
((Reference)) Use the numbers 4 and 7 to illustrate the commutative property of multiplication.
((Reference)) Convert
((Reference)) Arrange the numbers
((Reference)) Convert 4.006 to a mixed number.
((Reference)) Convert
"Used as supplemental materials for developmental math courses."