Question

A biology class examined some flowers in a local meadow. The students saw 24 perennial flowers and 36 annual flowers. What percentage of the flowers were perennials?

Answer 1

To find the percentage of the flowers that were perennials, we need to follow these steps:

1. **Find the total number of flowers** by adding the number of perennial flowers and annual flowers together.

\[
\text{Total flowers} = \text{Perennial flowers} + \text{Annual flowers} = 24 + 36 = 60
\]

2. **Calculate the percentage of perennial flowers** by dividing the number of perennial flowers by the total number of flowers and then multiplying by 100.

\[
\text{Percentage of perennials} = \left( \frac{\text{Perennial flowers}}{\text{Total flowers}} \right) \times 100 = \left( \frac{24}{60} \right) \times 100
\]

3. **Simplify the fraction**:

\[
\frac{24}{60} = \frac{2}{5}
\]

4. **Convert the fraction to a percentage**:

\[
\frac{2}{5} = 0.4
\]

Now multiply by 100:

\[
0.4 \times 100 = 40\%
\]

Thus, **40% of the flowers were perennials**.