ACT Math : How to find percentage
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Example Questions
Example Question #1 : How To Find Percentage
Jack and Jill have saved up $3500 for a vacation to Bermuda. Package Deal A costs $2500 plus an additional 30% tax. Package Deal B costs $2400 with an additional 3/9 of the price added for airfare. Package deal C costs $3225 with an included 10% tax. Package deal D costs $1800 per person. Which package deal will save them the most money?
A
D
C
B
B
Calculate the price of each Package Deal. A = $2500(1.3) = $3250, B = $2400 (1+3/9) = $3200. C = $3225, D = $3600. Remember that 1 = 9/9 for fraction addition. Package deal C’s wording is tricky, the tax is already included. Package Deal B is the best deal.
Example Question #2 : How To Find Percentage
Tim Duncan made 14 out of 16 free throws. Tony Parker made 9 out of 10 free throws. Danny Green made 7 out of 8 free throws. Whose shooting percentage was the best?
Danny Green
Tim and Danny were both equally the best
All three players were equally the best
Tim Duncan
Tony Parker
Tony Parker
For Tim, his percentage was .875 or 87.5%. For Tony, his percentage was .90 or 90%. For Danny, his percentage was also .875 or 87.5%. Thus Tony was the best.
Example Question #3 : How To Find Percentage
Johnny earned 5 % commission on a car he sold for $25,000. How much money did he make?
$2,000
$1,500
None of the answers are correct
$1,250
$2,500
$1,250
$ sales x % Commission = $ Commission
25000 x 0.05 = 1250
Example Question #4 : How To Find Percentage
Joey buys a sweatshirt for $35 that was originally sold for $50. What is the percent discount?
15 %
30 %
50 %
20 %
70 %
30 %
Amount of discount = original price – new price
% discount = amount of discount ÷ original price
% discount = 15/50 = 0.3 or 30%
Example Question #5 : How To Find Percentage
Bryan has white socks and blue socks in his drawer, in a ratio of 4 : 7. What percent of his socks are white?
30%
75%
64%
36%
57%
36%
You divide the number of blue socks, 4, by the number of total socks, 11, giving you 36%.
Example Question #6 : How To Find Percentage
There are 9 marbles in a box, and 4 of them are red.
What percentage of the marbles in the box are NOT red?
50%
44%
99%
55%
45%
55%
There are 5 non-red marbles and 9 total marbles.
5/9 = 0.555, which is about 55%
Example Question #1 : Other Percentage
What number is 130% of 50?
Verbal cues are "is" and "of." Is means equals and of means multiplication.
So the equation to solve becomes 
Example Question #2 : Other Percentage
Sally earns 3% commission on a house she sold for $150,000. How much money did she earn?
So the equation to solve becomes 
Example Question #9 : How To Find Percentage
What number is 125% of 160?
Verbal cues include "is" and "of." "Is" means equals and "of" means multiply.
So the equation to solve becomes 
Example Question #10 : How To Find Percentage
A high school student spends a total of 90 minutes per day studying for the ACT, Monday through Friday, then 2 hours a day on the weekend. What percent of their week is spent studying for the ACT?
8%
6.8%
7.125%
5.5%
6.25%
6.8%
The number of minutes in a week is:
The number of minutes spent studying is:
6.8%
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