Glass plates are packaged and shipped to a retail store, but 13 percent of all the shipped plates arrive broken. In the last shipment, 117 arrive broken. Which equation can be used to find the total number of plates shipped?

StartFraction 13 times 100 Over 117 times 100 EndFraction = StartFraction 1300 Over 11,700 EndFraction
StartFraction 117 divided by 1 Over 13 divided by 1 EndFraction = StartFraction 117 Over 13 EndFraction
StartFraction 13 times 9 Over 100 times 9 EndFraction = StartFraction 117 Over 900 EndFraction
StartFraction 100 divided by 13 Over 117 divided by 13 EndFraction = StartFraction 7.7 Over 9 EndFraction

1 answer

To find the total number of plates shipped, we know that 13% of the total plates shipped arrived broken, and that number is given as 117. We can use this information to set up the equation.

Let \( x \) be the total number of plates shipped. Then the relationship can be expressed as:

\[ 0.13x = 117 \]

To find \( x \), you can rearrange the equation:

\[ x = \frac{117}{0.13} \]

Now, let's examine the options given to see which corresponds to this scenario:

  1. Option: \( \frac{13 \times 100}{117 \times 100} = \frac{1300}{11700} \)

    This option represents a simplification of the proportion. It is not the correct equation to directly find the total number of plates, but rather a ratio.

  2. Option: \( \frac{117}{1} \div \frac{13}{1} = \frac{117}{13} \)

    This option simplifies to the same division as in the equation \( 0.13x = 117 \). This is a valid equation and can lead to finding \( x \).

  3. Option: \( \frac{13 \times 9}{100 \times 9} = \frac{117}{900} \)

    This option does not correctly represent our problem.

  4. Option: \( \frac{100}{13} \div \frac{117}{13} = \frac{7.7}{9} \)

    This also does not correspond directly to our main equation.

The best choice from the provided options that represents the relationship for finding the total number of plates shipped (by solving \( 0.13x = 117 \) or rearranging to find \( x \)) is:

\[ \frac{117}{13} \]

This can lead to the total number of plates shipped. Thus, the appropriate choice is:

Option 2: \( \frac{117}{13} \).