Harriet used the work below to determine the percent equivalent to One-eighth.

Question

Step 1: One-eighth = StartFraction question mark Over 100 EndFraction
Step 2: 8 divided by 100 = 0.08
Step 3: 0.08 times 1 = 0.08
Step 4: 0.08 percent

What was Harriet’s error?
In Step 1, she set up the proportions incorrectly.
In Step 2, she divided 8 by 100 instead of 100 by 8, so she cannot multiply the numerator by the factor.
In Step 3, she multiplied the numerator instead of the denominator by the factor.
In Step 4, she forgot to move the decimal.

Answer 1

Harriet's error is in Step 2. She divided 8 by 100 instead of 100 by 8. To find the percent equivalent of one-eighth, you should set up the proportion as:

One-eighth = \( \frac{?}{100} \)

This means you need to find out what corresponds to one-eighth when scaled to 100, which requires taking 100 and dividing it by 8, not the other way around. So, the correct way to calculate would be:

100 divided by 8 = 12.5

So, one-eighth is equal to 12.5 percent, demonstrating that the error was in Step 2. Therefore, the correct option is:

In Step 2, she divided 8 by 100 instead of 100 by 8, so she cannot multiply the numerator by the factor.