ACT Math : Fractions and Percentage

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for ACT Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #11 : Fractions

\(\displaystyle 6M\) is \(\displaystyle 28 \frac{4}{7} \%\) of \(\displaystyle 4N\). What percent of \(\displaystyle M\) is \(\displaystyle N\)?

 

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 685 \frac{5}{7} \%\)

\(\displaystyle 14 \frac{7}{12} \%\)

None of the other choices gives the correct answer.

\(\displaystyle 525 \%\)

\(\displaystyle 19 \frac{1}{21} \%\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 525 \%\)

Explanation:

\(\displaystyle 6M\) is \(\displaystyle 28 \frac{4}{7} \%\) of \(\displaystyle 4N\), so

\(\displaystyle 6M = \frac{28\frac{4}{7}}{100} \cdot 4N = \frac{28\frac{4}{7} \cdot 7 \cdot 4}{100 \cdot 7} \cdot N = \frac{800}{700 } N = \frac{8}{7}N\)

\(\displaystyle \frac{8}{7}N = 6M\)

\(\displaystyle \frac{7}{8} \cdot \frac{8}{7}N =\frac{7}{8} \cdot 6M\)

\(\displaystyle N =\frac{21}{4} M = 5.25 M\), or 525% of \(\displaystyle M\).

Example Question #31 : Percents

There are \(\displaystyle 48\) registered students in the math club. Students are deciding what activity they could do for their end of semester event. They have three choices: rock climbing, bowling, or outdoor laser tag. \(\displaystyle 14\) students vote for rock climbing, \(\displaystyle 12\) students vote for bowling, and \(\displaystyle 16\) students vote for outdoor laser tag.

What percent of students did not vote?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 0\%\)

\(\displaystyle 14.5\%\)

\(\displaystyle 12.5\%\)

\(\displaystyle 13.5\%\)

\(\displaystyle 11.5\%\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 12.5\%\)

Explanation:

The number of students who did not vote is:

\(\displaystyle 48-14-12-16=6\)

The percent of students who did not vote is therefore:

\(\displaystyle \frac{6}{48}=\frac{1}{8}=0.125\)

\(\displaystyle 12.5\%\) of the students did not vote.

Example Question #1401 : Act Math

There are \(\displaystyle 300\) students in a math class. \(\displaystyle \frac{3}{5}\) of the class consists of boys. How many girls are in the math class?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 85\)

\(\displaystyle 120\)\(\displaystyle %\)

\(\displaystyle 180\)

\(\displaystyle 20\)

\(\displaystyle 60\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 120\)\(\displaystyle %\)

Explanation:

First, we need to find the fraction of the class that are girls.

\(\displaystyle \frac{5}{5}-\frac{3}{5}=\frac{2}{5}\)

Next, find the number of students that are female. If we know that there are 300 students total, we can write the following ratio for girls:

\(\displaystyle \frac{x}{300}\)

Create a proportion.

\(\displaystyle \frac{x}{300}=\frac{2}{5}\)

Cross multiply and solve for the number of girls, \(\displaystyle x\).

\(\displaystyle \frac{x}{300}\times\frac{2}{5}\)

\(\displaystyle 5\cdot x=2\cdot300\)

\(\displaystyle 5x=600\)

Divide both sides of the equation by 5.

\(\displaystyle \frac{5x}{5}=\frac{600}{5}\)

\(\displaystyle x=120\)

There are 120 girls in the class.

Example Question #1402 : Act Math

Convert \(\displaystyle 14\%\) to a fraction.

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle \frac{3}{20}\)

\(\displaystyle \frac{7}{50}\)

\(\displaystyle \frac{14}{99}\)

\(\displaystyle \frac{1}{6}\)

\(\displaystyle \frac{1}{14}\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle \frac{7}{50}\)

Explanation:

Divide 14 by 100. Simplifying this fraction will give the reduced fractional form of \(\displaystyle 14\%\):

\(\displaystyle \frac{14}{100}= \frac{7}{50}\)

Example Question #1403 : Act Math

\(\displaystyle 30\) percent of \(\displaystyle 70\) percent of the students in a high school take Anglo-Saxon as their first foreign language. What fraction of the students does this represent?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle \frac{21}{100}\)

\(\displaystyle \frac{3}{5}\)

\(\displaystyle \frac{3}{7}\)

\(\displaystyle \frac{3}{10}\)

\(\displaystyle \frac{73}{100}\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle \frac{21}{100}\)

Explanation:

For percentages, remember that the key language is found in the words "is" and "of". "Of" is translated as multiplication, and "is" is translated as equality. Here, we merely need to set up the equation:

\(\displaystyle 0.3 * 0.7 *1=0.21\)

Notice carefully, we use \(\displaystyle 1\) to represent the \(\displaystyle 100\%\) of the class. It really is a filler. \(\displaystyle 0.21\) is the same as \(\displaystyle \frac{21}{100}\). This is the answer.

Example Question #14 : Fractions

If \(\displaystyle 50\) percent of \(\displaystyle 30\) percent of a group of peanuts was processed in Indiana, what fraction of the original amount of peanuts does this group represent?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle \frac{3}{10}\)

\(\displaystyle \frac{3}{20}\)

\(\displaystyle \frac{4}{5}\)

\(\displaystyle \frac{3}{8}\)

\(\displaystyle \frac{5}{8}\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle \frac{3}{20}\)

Explanation:

For percentages, remember that the key language is found in the words "is" and "of". "Of" is translated as multiplication, and "is" is translated as equality. Here, we merely need to set up the equation:

\(\displaystyle 0.5 * 0.3 *1=0.15\)

Notice carefully, we use \(\displaystyle 1\) to represent the \(\displaystyle 100\%\) of the group of peanuts processed anywhere. It really is a filler. \(\displaystyle 0.15\) is the same as \(\displaystyle \frac{15}{100}\). Reduce this by canceling out the common \(\displaystyle 5\): \(\displaystyle \frac{3}{20}\).

Example Question #11 : Fractions And Percentage

A stadium holds a total of 13,758 seats. Of that total, 6,732 seats are full with spectators. How many seats, to the nearest percent, are currently full?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 43\%\)

\(\displaystyle 44\%\)

\(\displaystyle 49\%\)

\(\displaystyle 39\%\)

\(\displaystyle 51\%\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 49\%\)

Explanation:

To answer this question, we must find the percentage of the amount of seats filled up within the stadium. To find a percentage, there are two steps.

First, you divide the part of the total number by the total number itself (in this case the amount of seats filled divided by the total number of seats). So, for this data:

\(\displaystyle \frac{part}{whole} = \frac{6,732}{13,758} = 0.489\)

The second step is to multiply your answer by 100 so that it will now be represented as a percentage. So for this data:

\(\displaystyle \frac{6,732}{13,758} = 0.489 \cdot 100 = 48.9 %\)

The question asked us to round our answer to the nearest whole percent. To do this, we round a number up one place if the last digit is a 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9, and we round it down if the last digit is a 1, 2, 3, or 4. Therefore:

\(\displaystyle 48.9% \rightarrow 49%\)\(\displaystyle 48.9 \rightarrow 49\)

So our answer for the amount of seats filled within the stadium is \(\displaystyle 49\%\).

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