help please!!
86 is 45% of what number?

Question

help please!!
86 is 45% of what number?

anonymous · Answer

191

accessdenied · Answer

The percent just means, "how much of a whole do I have?"
We can have 50%, or one-half, of a whole thing; or maybe 22%, which is 22/100 of a whole thing.

In general, if a number is some percentage of another, we can say that
   (The whole number) * (The percentage) = (the number that is the percentage of the previous number)
We can convert the percentage to a fraction which is more usable in math because x% = x/100.

So, simple examples:   25 is 50% of 50, 2 is 20% of 10...
    50 * 50% = 25  ->   50 * 1/2 = 25
    10 * 20% = 2    ->    10 * 2/10 = 2
As in above, maybe 22% of something:  What is 22% of 120?
    120*22% = 120*22/100 = 26.4

accessdenied · Answer

For this problem...
86 is 45% of what number?
   So, some number, if we have 45% of it, we will end up with 86.
   If we call that number, say, #...

# * 45% = 86.    45% = 45/100
45/100 * # = 86      Solve by multiplying both sides by 100/45 (to cancel with 45/100)
# = 86 * 100/45
   = 191.11... repeating