Percentage Problems

Percent Word Problems
Ratio and proportion method
Here are several aids that will help you solve word problems:
3.
4.
Make sure you understand the question that is asked

Sort out the information to make a basic percent problem, such
as 30% of what is 17?
Sometimes, you will have to subtract or add some of the numbers.
The base will always be the original number, price, or total.
1.
2.
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o
Some examples of percent word problems.

A baseball pitcher won 80% of the games he pitched. If he pitched 35
ballgames, how many games did he win?
80% of 35 is what?
35
28
100 2800
ar
80
100
1. Multiply the opposites

80 x 35 = 2800
2. Divide by the remaining number
28 games
re
er
Jerry, an electrician, worked 7 months out of the year. What percent

of the year did he work? (round answer to the nearest hundredth)
What percent of 12 is 7? 12 months = 1 year
ca
100
7
12
1. Multiply the opposites

7 x 100 = 700
58.33
12 700.00
58.33% (rounded to hundredth)
Percent Word Problems Handout

Revised @2009 MLC page 1 of 8
Sometimes the information needed to solve a percent word problem is not

stated directly. You will need to sort out the numbers given in the problem.
Organizing all the information into a box format will help you see what
numbers you have and what you need.
Some examples.
There are 28 students in a class. Sixteen of those students are men.
What percent of the class are women? (Round to the nearest tenth)
28 total students
-16 men
12 women
16
12
28
.c
o
Men
%
Women
%
Total
100%
12 is what % of 28?
12
28
42.85
28 1200.00
100
1. Multiple the opposites

100 x 12 = 1200
42.9%
re
er
ar
`
Donovan took a math test and got 35 correct and 10 incorrect answers.
What was the percentage of correct answers? (Round to the nearest
hundredth)
Correct answers
Incorrect answers
Total answers
ca
35 is what % of 45?
100
35
45
%
%
100%
35
10
45
35 correct answers
+10 incorrect answers
45 total answers
1. Multiple the opposites

100 x 35 = 3500
77.777
45 3500.000
77.78% (rounded to hundredth)

Percent Word Problems

Directions: Set up a basic percent problem. Sometimes you will have to do
extra steps to solve the problem. Follow rounding directions. Answers and
solutions start on page 6.
A student earned a grade of 80% on a math test that had
20 problems. How many problems on this test did the
student answer correctly? (round to the nearest whole
number)
2)
There are 36 carpenters in a crew. On a certain day, 29

were present. What percent showed up for work? (round to
the nearest tenth)
3)
A metal bar weighs 8.15 ounces. 93% of the bar is silver.

How many ounces of silver are in the bar? (round to the
nearest thousandth)
ca
re
er
ar
.c
o
1)
4)
A woman put $580 into a savings account for one year. The
rate of interest on the account was 6%. How much was the
interest for the year in dollars and cents? (Round to the
nearest cent)

A student answered 86 problems on a test correctly and

received a grade 98%. How many problems were on the test,
if all the problems were worth the same number of points?
(Round to the nearest whole number)
6)
Manuel found a wrecked Trans-Am that he could fix. He

bought the car for 65% of the original price of $7200.
What did he pay for the car? (Round to nearest dollar)
7)
Pamela bought an electric drill at 85% of the regular price.

She paid $32.89 for the drill. What was the regular price?
(Round to the nearest cent)
re
er
ar
.c
o
5)
8)
A crew is made up of 8 men; the rest are women. 66 % of

3
ca
the crew are men. How many people are in the crew?
9)
Ben earns $12,800 a year. About 15% is taken out for taxes.
How much is taken out for taxes?

At a sale, shirts were sold for $15 each. This price was 80%
of their original price. What was the original price?
11)
There are 32 students in a class. Nine of those students are

women. What percent are men? (round to the nearest tenth)
12)
The Royals softball team played 75 games and won 55 of

them. What percent of the games did they lose? (round to
the nearest tenth)
ca
re
er
ar
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o
10)

Answer Key
1.
80
100
Multiply the opposites:

80 x 20 = 1600
Divide by the remaining number:
16
100 1600
20
100
29
36

29 x 100 = 2900
80 .55
36 2900 .00
.c
o
2.
16 problems
93
100
8.15

93 x 8.15 = 757.95
7.5795
100 757 .9500
re
er
ar
3.
80.6%
61
580
ca
2
4.
100
5.
98
100
86
7.580 ounces
6 x 580 = 3770
37 .70
100 3770 .00
$37.70
100 x 86 = 8600
87 .7
98 8600 .0
88 problems
(rounded to nearest whole)

6.
65
100

65 x 7200 = 468,000
4680
100 468000
7200
32.89

100 x 32.89 = 3289
38 .694
85 3289 .000
.c
o
85
100
$38.69
66 2

100 x 8 = 800
ar
3
8.
100
7.
re
er
800
15
100
12,800
ca
9.
10.
80
100
$4680
15
66 2
800
1
200
3
800
1
3
200
12

15 x 12,800 = 192,000
1920
100 192000
$1920
100 x 15 = 1500
18 .75
80 1500 .00

12
1
$18.75
100%
32
32
23
9
23
100 x 23 = 2300
71.87
32 2300.00
23
32
.c
o
100
11.
Total
Men
Women
75
55
20
75
55
ar
100%
20
75
re
er
12.
Total
Won
Lost
71.9%(rounded to nearest tenth)

100 x 20 = 2000
26.667
75 2000.000
26.7% games lost (rounded to tenth)
ca
100
20


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Percent Word Problems

Ratio and proportion method

Make sure you understand the question that is asked

Some examples of percent word problems.

1. Multiply the opposites

Jerry, an electrician, worked 7 months out of the year. What percent

1. Multiply the opposites

58.33% (rounded to hundredth)

Percent Word Problems Handout

Sometimes the information needed to solve a percent word problem is not

1. Multiple the opposites

1. Multiple the opposites

77.78% (rounded to hundredth)

Percent Word Problems Handout

Percent Word Problems

There are 36 carpenters in a crew. On a certain day, 29

A metal bar weighs 8.15 ounces. 93% of the bar is silver.

Percent Word Problems Handout

A student answered 86 problems on a test correctly and

Manuel found a wrecked Trans-Am that he could fix. He

Pamela bought an electric drill at 85% of the regular price.

A crew is made up of 8 men; the rest are women. 66 % of

Percent Word Problems Handout

There are 32 students in a class. Nine of those students are

The Royals softball team played 75 games and won 55 of

Percent Word Problems Handout

Multiply the opposites:

Multiply the opposites:

Multiply the opposites:

(rounded to nearest whole)

Multiply the opposites:

Multiply the opposites:

Multiply the opposites:

Multiply the opposites:

Percent Word Problems Handout

71.9%(rounded to nearest tenth)

Multiply the opposites:

26.7% games lost (rounded to tenth)

Percent Word Problems Handout

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