$19.54 is 20 % of ?????

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Question from aryanna, a student:

i need to find out how to find percentage on a calculator??the equation is
$19.54,, is 20 % off?????

Hi Aryanna,

I think you have an extra f and the question should be

$19.54 is 20 % of ?????

This is almost a "mathematical sentence", that is an equation. The word "is" could be "is equal to" which is the equal sign, 20% is 20/100 = 0.20 and "of" means multiplication. So the sentence can be rewritten

$19.54 = 0.20 × ?????

Dividing both sides by 0.20 gives

????? = $19.95/0.20 = $97.85

Penny

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