The meeting had 30 people, which is three-fifths of the club. How many people are in the club?

Question

 I just need an answer to this. I just don't know how to go about solving it.

Answer 1

The straight-forward method (which results in the same expression after cross-multiplication as other methods) is to re-write the words of the problem using math symbols and operations:

 

"30 people ... is three-fifths of the club"      means [and "of" means multiply]

    30             =      (3/5)  *      x                       [where x = number of people in club]

 

     30*(5/3) = x                       [multiply both sides by 5/3]

          50 = x

 

Answer 2

You can solve this as a proportion

 

30 people = 3/5 of the club

 

  30         x

------ = -----

 3/5        1

 

and cross multiply

 

30 = (3/5) x

x = 30 (5/3) = 50