In which problem do you need to solve for the whole?

Question

A survey of 850 middle school students showed that 85% of them preferred a new strategy game. How many middle school students like the strategy game?

A theater has sold 145 of its 200 available seats. What percentage of seats have been sold?

Charlie needs to sell 200 candy bars for a fundraiser. He has sold 85% of what he needs to sell. How many candy bars has he sold?

There are 25 parking spaces available in a parking garage. This is 10% of the number of parking spaces in the garage. How many parking spaces are in the garage?

Answer 1

In the problems provided, you need to solve for the whole in the following scenario:

There are 25 parking spaces available in a parking garage. This is 10% of the number of parking spaces in the garage. How many parking spaces are in the garage?

In this case, you are trying to find the total number of parking spaces in the garage (the whole) based on the information that 25 spaces represent 10% of that total.

For the other problems:

1. The first problem asks how many students like the strategy game (you know 85% of 850).
2. The second problem asks what percentage of seats have been sold (you know how many were sold and how many were available).
3. The third problem asks how many candy bars Charlie has sold (you know 85% of 200).

In these cases, you are finding part values or percentages, rather than solving for the whole.