If a project is handed in late, you receive 8/9 of your earned points. You received 81 points on your late project. How many points did you lose?

Question

I'm having difficulties trying to figure out this seventh grade word or story problem.

Answer 1

Let "x" be your score if you didn't lose any points.  Then you can write the equation:

 

 (8/9)x = 81      <---- 8/9 of your original score = 81

 

Then solve for x:

 

(9/8)(8/9)x = 81(9/8)

 

x =  91.125

 

Therefore, you lost 91.125 - 81 = 10.125 points.

 

 

Answer 2

(8/9)(max #of points) = 81.  Solve that!  Hint: Multiply both sides by reciprocal of 8/9 to eliminate the coefficient of'max'