Thread: A fractions question

There is a certain type of question I am having trouble with it has to do with percentages. Here is an example:

In 2006, a total of 2748 earthquakes occurred in the United States. Of these, 85.3% were minor tremors with magnitudes of 3.9 or less on the Richter scale. How many minor earthquakes occurred in the United States in 2006? Round to the nearest whole number.

The answer is 2344 earthquakes.

I can't for the life of me figure out how to get this number. I figure it has to do with dividing but I not sure dividing what. Please if you could show work I would greatly appreciate it! So I can apply the same principles to other like questions.

Originally Posted by Senpai

There is a certain type of question I am having trouble with it has to do with percentages. Here is an example:

In 2006, a total of 2748 earthquakes occurred in the United States. Of these, 85.3% were minor tremors with magnitudes of 3.9 or less on the Richter scale. How many minor earthquakes occurred in the United States in 2006? Round to the nearest whole number.

The answer is 2344 earthquakes.

I can't for the life of me figure out how to get this number. I figure it has to do with dividing but I not sure dividing what. Please if you could show work I would greatly appreciate it! So I can apply the same principles to other like questions.

Relax. It is easy.

It says, 85.3% of 2748 earthquakes are minor earthquakes.
That means 85.3% of 2748 ........a repetition actually.
In Math, that is 85.3% times 2748.
Or, 0.853 * 2748
And by calculator, that is equal to 2344.
See. Easy.

Uh, do you why 85.3% is equal to 0.853?

I'm trying not to use a calculator...
But, why make it 0.853? I thought it would be to take the decimal to the right not the left side. So it would be 853...but yeah, I have no idea why you did that.

I think I get it now I'll do a few more questions like this one to get the hang of it.
A random question: Do you know what kind of calculator would be good for a intermediate algebra student?

Thanks again for your help!

Originally Posted by Senpai

I think I get it now I'll do a few more questions like this one to get the hang of it.
A random question: Do you know what kind of calculator would be good for a intermediate algebra student?

Thanks again for your help!

Any garden-variety scientific calculator will do. My calculator is like that only.
If your intermediate Algebra has graphing topics, then get a graphing calculator.