The Forest 3

for the Trees

Determining the Part and the Whole in
Percent Problems

WARM UP LEARNING GOALS

Complete each equivalent • Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve percent problems
fraction. involving determining the part, the percent, and
the whole.
6 • Solve percent problems involving determining the part,
1. __ 5 _____
8 12 given the whole and the percent.
• Use ratio reasoning to estimate the value of the whole in
15 percent problems.
2. _____ 5 ___ • Solve percent problems involving determining the whole.
16 40

6
3. ___ 5 _____
15 10

You have learned how to use benchmarks to determine the percent of a number, but what
if you only know the part and the percent? How can you use your knowledge of percents to
determine the whole amount?

LESSON 3: The Forest for the Trees • M2-137

 Getting Started

The Big Picture

When you study problems in terms of ratios, like percents, it is
important to think about the whole as well as the parts. The whole
is not always 100 or 1. And if the whole changes, this changes
the percent!

1. Consider the picture of triangles.

a. If the picture shown is 100% of the triangles, draw 50% of

the triangles.

b. If the picture shown is 30% of the triangles, draw 100% of

the triangles.

2. The given rectangle represents 25% of the whole figure.

a. Draw a rectangle that represents 50% of the whole figure.

M2-138 • TOPIC 2: Percents

 b. Draw a rectangle that represents 75% of the whole figure.

c. Draw a rectangle that represents 100% of the whole figure.

3. The figure shown represents 75% of the whole figure.

a. Draw 25% of the figure.

b. Draw 100% of the figure.

LESSON 3: The Forest for the Trees • M2-139

 AC T I V I T Y
Calculating a Percent
3.1 of a Quantity

Mr. Goodwin, the sixth grade math teacher, asked the class to
determine 25% of 44. Five different student responses are shown.

Kendra
25
Since 25% of 44 means multiplying __
100 times the
quantity, I used the fraction method.
25
____ 1
= _.
100 4
1
Then, I multiply _ • 44 = 11.
4

Hank
I like decimals much better than fractions.
25 = 0.25
___
100
0.25 • 44 = 11

Ryan
25% is easy to do in my head. 50% of 44 is 22.
1 1
25% is _ _
2 of 50%, so 25% of 44 is 2 of 22, which is equal to 11.

Simon
1
Since 25 is the same as _
4
, I just divided by four.
44 ÷ 4 = 11

Pamela
I prefer to use the benchmarks of 10% and 5%.
10% of 44 = 4.4.
20% is 2 . 10% = 2 . 4.4 = 8.8.
5% is half of 10% = 2.2.
Therefore, 20% + 5% = 8.8 + 2.2 = 11.0

M2-140 • TOPIC 2: Percents

1. Discuss each student method used.
A more efficient
method is one that
a. When is Kendra’s method most efficient to use?
requires fewer steps
or simpler steps to
determine an answer.

b. When is Hank’s method most efficient to use?

c. When is Ryan’s method most efficient to use?

d. When is Simon’s method most efficient to use?

e. When is Pamela’s method most efficient to use?

LESSON 3: The Forest for the Trees • M2-141

 Ellen said, “All the methods are correct, and everyone got the correct
NOTES answer, but what if Mr. Goodwin gave us the problem 32% of 732?”

• Kendra said, “My fraction method is not as easy this time.”

8
32 ____
____ 5856
732 _____
? 5 5 234.24
100 1 25
25

• Hank said,
“32% 5 0.32
0.32 ? 732 5 234.24
My method is not any more difficult this time.”

• Ryan said, “I can still estimate . . . , but my answer will be close, not
1 1
exact. 32% is close to __3
and __
3
of 732 is 244.”

• Simon said, “I don’t have an easy fraction to use for 32%, so my

method works only for certain percents.”

• Pamela said, “I can still use my method.”

32% 5 10% 1 10% 1 10% 1 1% 1 1%
10% of 732 5 73.2 1% of 732 5 7.32
73.2(3) 5 219.6 7.32(2) 5 14.64
219.6 1 14.64 5 234.24

2. Which method do you prefer with this particular percent of a

quantity problem? Explain your thinking.

3. Determine the percent of each quantity.

a. 7% of 80 b. 15% of 55

c. 12% of 320 d. 8% of 300

M2-142 • TOPIC 2: Percents

 e. 75% of 240 f. 37% of 120
NOTES

g. 150% of 27 h. 12.5% of 64

AC T I V I T Y
Determining the Whole with
3.2 a Double Number Line

Karla is in charge of designing a way to keep a running total of the

money raised by her homeroom for the Food Bank project. As of
today, her homeroom has raised $240, which is 60% of their goal.

WORKED EXAMPLE

Karla decided to use a double number line to record the money

raised and the percent of the goal raised.
0 $40 $240
Money Raised ($)

Percent of Goal
0 10% 60% 100%

The bottom number line represents the percent of the

homeroom goal. The top number line represents the amount
of money raised.

Karla’s homeroom has raised $240, which is 60% of the goal.

LESSON 3: The Forest for the Trees • M2-143

 1. How did Karla determine the value that corresponds to 10%?

2. If $240 is 60% of the homeroom goal, what is 100% of the

goal? Explain how you determined the answer.

3. Which way of reporting is more informative: the amount of

money raised, or the percent of money raised? Explain your
thinking.

4. Complete each double number line to represent the goals of

the other sixth grade homerooms using the information from
the table. Write the equivalent dollar amount for each percent
shown.

Homeroom 6A 6B 6C 6D 6E 6F

60% of Goal 240 144 288 168

100% of Goal 400 360 120

M2-144 • TOPIC 2: Percents

a. Homeroom 6B

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

b. Homeroom 6C

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

c. Homeroom 6D

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

d. Homeroom 6E

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

e. Homeroom 6F

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

LESSON 3: The Forest for the Trees • M2-145

 AC T I V I T Y

3.3 Wholes in Proportions

You can use proportions to determine the whole in percent

problems.

WORKED EXAMPLE

Carlos is told that 65% of the students, or 78 students, prefer

pizza for lunch according to a recent survey. He wants to know
how many students were surveyed. He drew the model shown
to visualize the problem.

part whole
0 78 ?
Number

Percent
0% 65% 100%

He then wrote the proportion and determined that 120

students were surveyed.
Notice that 65 and
100 have a common part 78 65
______ __
= ____
factor of 5. whole ? 100
When analyzing a 45 36
ratio, always look for {___
65
____
{ 78
13 __
what the numerator {20{
100
= =
?
and denominator
have in common. 45 36
78
___ 65
= ___
120 100

1. How did Carlos determine the total number? Explain Carlos’

calculations.

M2-146 • TOPIC 2: Percents

 Oscar NOTES
Instead of scaling down and then scaling up, it is more
efficient to scale up from the start. I can use the
structure of this proportion to determine the scale
factor.
Since 78 ÷ 65 5 1.2, I can scale up in one step by
multiplying by 1.2.
31.2
{
78
__ 65
?
{ 5 ___
100

31.2
100 3 1.2 5 120
78
___ 65
___
120 5 100

2. Use Oscar’s method to determine the unknown value.

45
____ 126
100
5 ____
?

3. Determine the whole in each situation. Explain your reasoning.

a. The best player on your school basketball team makes 60%

of her free throws. If she scored 90 points in a season on
free throws, which are worth one point each, how many free
throws did she attempt?

b. You got a quiz back and your teacher wrote 116, and 80% at
the top. How many points was the quiz worth?

LESSON 3: The Forest for the Trees • M2-147

 c. Sandy made a 30% deposit on the purchase of a computer.
She gave the clerk $168. What is the price of the computer?

d. Your friends ate at a restaurant and left a $2.40 tip. They left
a 15% tip. What was the cost of their bill before the tip?

AC T I V I T Y

3.4 Wholes in Problems

An accountant is reviewing a store’s financial statements. But some

of the information is missing. All of the employee names, their bonus
percent, and bonus amounts should be listed in the table.

Employee Name Bonus Bonus Total Sales

Percent Amount
Kiesha 18% $540
Tonya 21% $3657.14
Ruth 15% $650
Mario 10% $3250
Joseph 23% $678

1. Help the accountant by determining each employee’s bonus

amount or total sales. Complete the table and show your work.

M2-148 • TOPIC 2: Percents

2. Gareth liked Hank’s method for calculating percents of a
number and thought it would work for calculating the whole.
He said that if you can multiply to determine the part of a
whole, maybe you can divide to determine the whole when you
know only the part.

He gave this example:

Percent Whole Part Unknown Value

20% of $1500 is 0.2 3 1500

20% of is $300 300 4 0.2

Is Gareth correct? Does this always work? Explain your thinking.

3. Determine each value.

a. 15 is 25% of what number? b. 15 is 30% of what number?

c. 45 is 75% of what number? d. 16 is 20% of what number?

e. 36 is 40% of what number? f. 6 is 15% of what number?

g. 27 is 30% of what number?

LESSON 3: The Forest for the Trees • M2-149

 4. A department store recently had a big sale where the prices of
items were marked 25% off of the regular price. Now that the
25% OFF the sale is over, Tremain needs to mark each of the items back up
regular price to its original price. The items and their sale prices are listed in
means 75% the table. Help Tremain complete the table.
OF the regular
price!
Item Sale Price Original Price

shirt $24.00

pants $36.00

sweater $59.95

suit $299.00

sports coat $159.95

5. The department store realizes it isn’t making enough money.

The store manager decides to mark up prices by 20%.

Complete the table with the new price for each item.

Item Original Price New Price

shirts $22.00

pants $29.00

shoes $65.00

jackets $50.00

M2-150 • TOPIC 2: Percents

6. The department store orders toasters from a company that
produces three different models of toasters. The company
has found that the percent of each shipment that is defective
differs by model. Model A’s defect rate is 2.5%, Model B’s
defect rate is 1.75%, and Model C’s defect rate is 3.2%.

On a particular shipment, the company forgets to mark the

total number shipped of each model. You only know that you
received 5 defective Model A toasters, 7 defective Model B
toasters, and 16 defective Model C toasters. How many of each
model were shipped?

AC T I V I T Y

3.5 Wholes in Geometry

You can apply what you have learned about wholes, percents, and
ratio reasoning to solve percent problems in geometry too.

1. Corinne’s new dog pen is a rectangular pen that measures

12 yards by 4 yards. She reduced the area of her old
rectangular dog pen by 60% after adopting out 6 puppies.
List some possible dimensions of Corinne’s old dog pen.
Explain your reasoning.

LESSON 3: The Forest for the Trees • M2-151

 2. The tank shown is 75% full of water.

a. What is the height of the tank? Explain how you solved the
problem.

5.5 cm
7.5 cm

18 cm

b. Suppose the outside of the tank is covered with paper only

up to the water level. What percent of the total surface area
of the tank would be covered? Round to the nearest whole
percent. Be sure to include the top of the tank in the total.

M2-152 • TOPIC 2: Percents

3. Linda wants to make doggy treats for 3 in.
her dog John Henry. The center 20% 4

of each treat will be peanut butter.

The rest will be a biscuit made from
a mixture of wheat flour, eggs, and 1 in.
2
mashed bananas. What is the total
volume of the doggy treat, including
the peanut butter? What is the volume 3 in.
4
of just the biscuit?

4. The area of Parallelogram A is 25% of the area of

Parallelogram B. What is the height of Parallelogram B?
Show your work.

7.5 cm

18 cm 16 cm

Parallelogram A Parallelogram B

LESSON 3: The Forest for the Trees • M2-153

 NOTES
TALK the TALK

Try and Try Again

For each question, demonstrate two different ways to determine
the answer.

1. Leah’s goal is to score a 90% on the upcoming science test.

If there are 40 questions on the test, how many does Leah
need to answer correctly?

2. Today, Antonio made 40% of the burritos sold during

the lunch rush at work. If he made 28 burritos during this
time, what is the total number of burritos made during
the lunch rush?

Plan a presentation of your 2 solutions. Talk about how they are

the same and how they’re different.

M2-154 • TOPIC 2: Percents

 Assignment

Write
Compare different ways to
determine the whole in a percent
problem: using double number
lines, writing a proportion, and
using division.
Remember
Percent problems often have a part, a percent, and a whole.
When you know the part and the percent, you can use a variety of
strategies to determine the whole.

Practice
1. A manager at the department store keeps track of “points” for each employee. Employees earn points
by being on time for work and for keeping the department neat. On a particular day, he gives “smile”
points for each time an employee smiles at a customer. He recorded the smile points that each employee
received, along with the total points for that employee. He had a problem with his computer, though, and
some of the entries were deleted. Help the manager complete the table.

Employee Smile Percent of Total

Name Points Total Points Points
Garrett 15 5%

Ricardo 8% 325

Brent 6 2%

Lin 21 6%

Danielle 45 12%

2. The Music Department of a department store sold 12 jazz CDs last month. Jazz sales during that month
made up 2% of the Music Department’s total sales.
a. Determine the number of CDs that the store sold during that month.
b. Suppose that the store sells 14 jazz CDs during the next month and the percent of sales from jazz CDs
is still 2%. What is the total number of CDs that the store will sell?
3. Calculate each value.
a. 12 is 20% of what number? b. 28 is 35% of what number?
c. 84 is 42% of what number? d. 32 is 80% of what number?
e. 35% of 60 is what number? f. 25% of 132 is what number?
g. 5% of 40 is what number? h. 15% of 80 is what number?

LESSON 3: The Forest for the Trees • M2-155

 Stretch
Bob ate at a restaurant one night with 2 friends. The cost of his meal was 10% of the cost of the 3 meals
before the tip. Four receipts from the restaurant that night are shown. Some of the groups gave an 18% tip
and some gave a 15% tip, but you’re not sure which is which.
1. Which guest was Bob, and where was he sitting?

TABLE 1 TABLE 2

Guest 1: Guest 1: $38.45

Guest 2: $18.00 Guest 2: $34.81

Guest 3: $12.00 Guest 3:

Tip: $4.96 Tip: $14.65

TABLE 3 TABLE 4

Guest 1: $18.22 Guest 1: $35.11

Guest 2: Guest 2: $35.05

Guest 3: $41.00 Guest 3:

Tip: $11.74 Tip: $15.90

Review
1. Jai has a 28% free throw rate in basketball. That means when he shoots a free throw he makes a basket
28% of the time. Jai shoots 120 free throws in a season. How many baskets is he likely to make? Use
benchmark percents of 1% and 10% to help you determine the answer.
a. What is 1% of 120? b. What is 10% of 120?
c. What is 20% of 120? d. What is 8% of 120?
2. In Tampa, Florida, the sun shines about 66% of the year. About how many days does the sun shine in Tampa?
3. Bill is painting his room a certain shade of green. The paint is a mixture of 3 parts blue paint to 2 parts yellow
paint. To get the correct shade of green, how much yellow paint should he add to 6 quarts of blue paint?
4. LaShaya answered 9 out of 10 questions correctly on her math quiz. Her twin sister LaTeisha answered 22 out of
25 questions correctly on her math test. Did they have the same ratio of correct problems to total problems?
5. Determine each product.
a. 0.6 3 95 b. 210 3 0.75

M2-156 • TOPIC 2: Percents