Question

Huong wants to buy a bicycle that costs $396. She is about to start a new job and decides to put 40 percent of her earnings aside to save for the bicycle. Huong wonders what her total earnings will have to be for her to save $396.

Huong wants to know: 40 percent of what number equals $396? Write an equation that translates her question into mathematical form.
Solve the equation. How much will Huong have to earn so that her savings will equal $396?
Huong will make $90 a week. If she saves 40 percent of $90 each week, how many weeks will it take for her to save $396? Write an equation that translates her question into mathematical form.
Solve the equation. How many weeks will it take Huong to save $396 by putting aside 40 percent of her weekly salary of $90?

Answer 1

To find out how much total earnings Huong needs to save $396 at 40%, we can let \( x \) be her total earnings. The equation would be:

\[
0.40x = 396
\]

Now we can solve for \( x \) by dividing both sides of the equation by 0.40:

\[
x = \frac{396}{0.40}
\]

Calculating that:

\[
x = 990
\]

So, Huong will have to earn **$990** in total to save $396.

Now, let's find out how many weeks it will take Huong to save $396 if she saves 40% of her weekly salary of $90. First, we need to determine how much she saves each week. The savings per week, given that she saves 40% of her $90 salary, can be calculated as follows:

\[
\text{savings per week} = 0.40 \times 90
\]

Calculating that:

\[
\text{savings per week} = 36
\]

Next, let \( w \) represent the number of weeks Huong will need to save $396. The equation for her total savings after \( w \) weeks will be:

\[
36w = 396
\]

Now we can solve for \( w \) by dividing both sides by 36:

\[
w = \frac{396}{36}
\]

Calculating that:

\[
w = 11
\]

Therefore, it will take Huong **11 weeks** to save $396 by putting aside 40% of her weekly salary of $90.