If there are 300 people at a party and one out of every six of them are late, how many people were late?

Question

What is the equation used to solve this question?

Answer 1

"One out of every six"    is    1/6

"x out of 300"              is      x/300

 

These are equal (that is, a proportion):

     1/6 = x/300

 

Cross-multiply:

     6x = 300

      x = 50

 

    50 people are late to the party.