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Now that we have the strategy to refer to, and have practiced solving basic percent equations, we are ready to solve percent applications. Be sure to ask yourself if your final answer makes sense—since many of the applications will involve everyday situations, you can rely on your own experience.

Dezohn and his girlfriend enjoyed a nice dinner at a restaurant and his bill was $68.50. He wants to leave an 18% tip. If the tip will be 18% of the total bill, how much tip should he leave?

Solution

Step 1. Read the problem.
Step 2. Identify what we are looking for. the amount of tip should Dezohn leave
Step 3. Name what we are looking for.
Choose a variable to represent it. Let t = amount of tip.
Step 4. Translate into an equation. .
Write a sentence that gives the information to find it. .
Translate the sentence into an equation. .
Step 5. Solve the equation. Multiply. .
Step 6. Check. Does this make sense?
Yes, 20% of $70 is $14.
Step 7. Answer the question with a complete sentence. Dezohn should leave a tip of $12.33.

Notice that we used t to represent the unknown tip.

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Cierra and her sister enjoyed a dinner in a restaurant and the bill was $81.50. If she wants to leave 18% of the total bill as her tip, how much should she leave?

$14.67

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Kimngoc had lunch at her favorite restaurant. She wants to leave 15% of the total bill as her tip. If her bill was $14.40, how much will she leave for the tip?

$2.16

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The label on Masao’s breakfast cereal said that one serving of cereal provides 85 milligrams (mg) of potassium, which is 2% of the recommended daily amount. What is the total recommended daily amount of potassium?

Solution

Step 1. Read the problem.
Step 2. Identify what we are looking for. the total amount of potassium that is recommended
Step 3. Name what we are looking for.
Choose a variable to represent it. Let a = total amount of potassium.
Step 4. Translate. Write a sentence that gives the information to find it. .
Translate into an equation. .
Step 5. Solve the equation. .
Step 6. Check. Does this make sense?
Yes, 2% is a small percent and 85 is a small part of 4,250.
Step 7. Answer the question with a complete sentence. The amount of potassium that is recommended is 4,250 mg.
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One serving of wheat square cereal has seven grams of fiber, which is 28% of the recommended daily amount. What is the total recommended daily amount of fiber?

25 grams

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One serving of rice cereal has 190 mg of sodium, which is 8% of the recommended daily amount. What is the total recommended daily amount of sodium?

2,375 mg

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Mitzi received some gourmet brownies as a gift. The wrapper said each brownie was 480 calories, and had 240 calories of fat. What percent of the total calories in each brownie comes from fat?

Solution

Step 1. Read the problem.
Step 2. Identify what we are looking for. the percent of the total calories from fat
Step 3. Name what we are looking for.
Choose a variable to represent it. Let p = percent of fat.
Step 4. Translate. Write a sentence that gives the information to find it. .
Translate into an equation. .
Step 5. Solve the equation. .
Divide by 480. .
Put in a percent form. .
Step 6. Check. Does this make sense?
Yes, 240 is half of 480, so 50% makes sense.
Step 7. Answer the question with a complete sentence. Of the total calories in each brownie, 50% is fat.
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Practice Key Terms 9

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Source:  OpenStax, Elementary algebra. OpenStax CNX. Jan 18, 2017 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col12116/1.2
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