Question

How do I find the missing number in the following proportion? ___: 8 = 12:32

Answer 1

The missing number is `3`.

Explanation:

Think like this:

`x/8 = 12/32`

Cross multiply

`32x = 96`

Divide both sides by `32` to get

`x = 3`

Answer 2

See a solution process below:

Explanation:

We can call the number we are looking for `n`

We can now rewrite this problem as:

`n/8 = 12/32`

We can multiply each side of the equation by `color(red)(8)` to solve for `n` while keeping the equation balanced:

`color(red)(8) xx n/8 = color(red)(8) xx 12/32`

`cancel(color(red)(8)) xx n/color(red)(cancel(color(black)(8))) = cancel(color(red)(8)) xx 12/(color(red)(cancel(color(black)(32)))4)`

`n = 12/4`

`n = 3`