On average, 1.5% of all volumetric flasks that are ordered by the hospital are damaged on arrival. The hospital had 30 damaged flasks in its?

Question

On average, 1.5% of all volumetric flasks that are ordered by the hospital are damaged on arrival. The hospital had 30 damaged flasks in its latest shipment. If 1.5% of the shipment was damaged how many flasks were originally ordered?

Answer 1

"1.5% of the shipment was damaged " ... "30 damaged flasks"     can be re-worded mathematically as:

(15/1000)  *       x         =      30

 

Note that 1.5% may be written as 0.015 or 15/1000 as required by the problem.

 

 (15/1000) x = 30

       x = 30(1000/15)              [multiply both sides by 1000/15]

       x = 2000

Answer 2

I would set it up this way:

 

1.5/100 = 30/x

 

Then cross-multiply.  1.5 x = 3000, so x = 2000.

 

1.5 over 100 is just another way of writing 1.5 percent, and the equivalent fraction has 30 in the numerator and x in the denominator.

 

Check:  1.5% of 2000 is 30.