a restaurant has 32 customers. if this is 4/6 of capacity, what is the total capacity of the restaurant

Question

I need to know how to set up and solve this equation

 

Answer 1

Hi Megan,

 

This problem is easier if you are able to translate the word problem into mathematical equivalents.

 

for example, "of" in math means multiplication

 

...there are other examples I can share with you

 

for this problem 32 is 4/6 of capacity.

"is" means =

"of" means multiplication.  

 

so it might be helpful to set up the problem like this :

 

32 = 4/6(T)  where I picked T to mean the capacity or total.

 

does this help?  Are you able to solve for T?

 

Answer 2

It often helps to draw a model of the picture:

 

http://hwmath.net/solutions/restaurant01.jpg

 

I hope this helps.