Step 3: Drop the percentage marks to simplify your calculations: 100 / Y = 12.5 / 15 Step 1: Let's assume the unknown value is Y That means that the total number of band members is 120. How To: The smaller 'Part' in this problem is 15 since there are 15 flute players and we are told that they make up 12.5 percent of the band, so the 'Percent' is 12.5.Īgain, it's the 'Total' that's missing here, and to find it, we just need to follow our 2 step procedure as the previous problem.įor step one, we multiply the 'Part' by 100.įor step two, we divide that 1500 by the 'Percent', which is 12.5. Question: A high school marching band has 15 flute players, If 12.5 percent of the band members play the flute, then how many members are in the band?Īnswer: There are 120 members in the band. In step two, we take that 1500 and divide it by the 'Percent', which we are told is 12.5.Īnd that means that the total number of marbles is 120. So step one is to just multiply that Part by 100. Let's try it out on our problem about the marbles, that's very simple and it's just two steps! We know that the 'Part' (red marbles) is 15. If we take the 'Part' and multiply it by 100, and then we divide that by the 'Percent', we will get the 'Total'. Here is the way to figure out what the Total is:īy using a simple algebra we can re-arrange our Percent equation like this:

So, that means that it must be the Total that's missing. How To: In this problem, we know that the Percent is 12.5, and we are also told that the Part of the marbles is red, so we know that the Part is 15.

How many marbles does he have altogether? Question: Your friend has a bag of marbles, and he tells you that 12.5 percent of the marbles are red.

12.5 out of 15