Need help with someone who can do math.

[Scottie Mom]

I simply cannot do math and I need an answer to this:

$39,401.74 is 70% of what number?

I know...math is simple and wonderful...and I wish I could comprehend it!

Thanks in advance...

[cloudbase]

1. 56288.20

[cloudbase]

2. The how:

39401.74=.7x
x=(39401.74/.7)

[cachukis]

3. Take your number and divide by .7

[femmedem]

4. The cheater, nonmath way to figure it out:

http://www.math.com/students/calculators/source/3percent.htm

(an online percentage calculator tool)

[Scottie Mom]

9. OMG....bookmarked!!!!!!

[femmedem]

16. Happy to help!

I hope it saves you lots of frustration.

[Tetrachloride]

5. your sentence, left to right

39,400 is.
39,400 =

39,400 = 70 percent
39,400 = 70 %

of what number

39,400 = .7 * the missing number

[wryter2000]

6. Divide the number by .7

That’s point 7. Use a calculator

[ProfessorGAC]

7. Multiply The 39,401.74...

...by 10, then divide that by 7.
Why, you may ask.
70% is 70 out of a hundred, or 7 over 10.
To get your answer, we take the starting number and divide it by 7/10. (39401.74 ÷ [7/10])
When dividing by a fraction, it's the same as multiplying by the inverse. So, 39,401.74 × (10/7)
Now, we get 394,017.4 ÷ 7 = 56,288.2.

[Scottie Mom]

10. Were you a math prof? What you wrote made was logical and made sense.

I simply cannot see numbers. I have names for their shapes so I can distinguish them. (Like an 8 is an owl.) Math is the MOST stressful thing I have ever encountered in my life.

I have to tell you tho, how you wrote this out with words and not just math symbols really helped. I also transpose numbers and write them backwards. It's like dyslexia...except it's all about numbers.

To add a column of numbers, I justify at the left edge...my eye does not see the decimal points. This disability is maddening as all hell!!!! I simply cannot make decimal points line up as they should.

I could read before I was 4, but now in my mid 70s, I have NEVER balanced a check book. Tried once and quit trying several days later. In tears and exhausted.

[ProfessorGAC]

11. I Was Not

I was a physical organic chemist. Lots of math in P-Chem!
Math always came easy to me, even more advanced forms. But, it wasn't until I retired & starting substitute teaching math & science that I found out I was pretty good at explaining how math works.
I sub as much math as science, now. 7th grade through senior year.
At this point, I don't have a preference!
Of course, once golf season fully returned I only sub on rainy days! LOL!

[Scottie Mom]

12. I played golf from the time I was in grade school.

Was really upset in H.S. cuz it was classified as a boy's sport and I could not play on the golf team!

Yes, a lot of math in chemistry. I tried chemistry one time ... total failure! Switched my college major to pre-law!

[ProfessorGAC]

13. Especially P-Chem

Kinetic equations, dynamic modeling, heat & mass transfer, phase behavior, fluid dynamics.........
Got WAY easier after we had Macs on every desk!
Doing multivariate optimization models with a calculator and graph paper went to click, click, click, click, done.

[Scottie Mom]

14. In my day -- 1960s, it was slide rules.

Pocket protectors and baby powder! My use for a slide rule? Bookmark!

[ProfessorGAC]

15. I Had One

Didn't have calculators until freshman year of college.
In junior year of HS, I got my hands on a circular slide rule. Interpolation was way easier.
But, by the time I was working for a living, HP & TI calculators were abundant.

[TexasBushwhacker]

17. P Chem ate my lunch

Organic chemistry was hard enough. I made Ds in both semesters. So I had 3 years total of chemistry under my belt. I walked into that physical chemistry class, the professor started his lecture and I didn't have a clue what he was talking about. The second class was no better. I dropped it and changed my minor to psychology.

[ProfessorGAC]

18. Oh, That'll Happen

I went to a mid-size private school for undergrad.
In Organic I, we had 60 students & 32 or so were declared chem majors.
I graduated with a BS Chem with 3 other guys!
Organic, Advanced Inorganic, & P-Chem changed a lot of minds!

[alwaysinasnit]

8. ...

Divide 39401.74 by 7 and then multiply by 10.

39401.74 divided by 7 = 5628.82

5628.82 times 10 = 56,288.20