Question

12% of what number is 48?

Answer 1

12% of 400 is 48

Explanation:

"Percent" or "%" means "out of 100" or "per 100", Therefore 12% can be written as `12/100`.

When dealing with percents the word "of" means "times" or "to multiply".

Finally, lets call the number we are looking for "n".

Putting this altogether we can write this equation and solve for `n` while keeping the equation balanced:

`12/100 xx n = 48`

`color(red)(100)/color(blue)(12) xx 12/100 xx n = color(red)(100)/color(blue)(12) xx 48`

`cancel(color(red)(100))/cancel(color(blue)(12)) xx color(blue)(cancel(color(black)(12)))/color(red)(cancel(color(black)(100))) xx n = 4800/color(blue)(12)`

`n = 400`