How much money in total does a laptop cost, if 2/5 of the total cost is 288 dollars?

Question

No other stuff.

Answer 1

Hi Samantha,

Great question.  We can think of the problem this way:

 

The total cost is 5/5, or 100%.  We'll call this "X"

 

2/5 of the cost is 288

 

An easy way to solve this is to find out how much 1/5 of the laptop equals.

 

Half of 2/5 is 1/5, or 144.

 

 

So 1/5 of the laptop cost 144.  

 

1/5 = 144

 

If we add all 5 "parts" we get 1/5 + 1/5 + 1/5 + 1/5 + 1/5, or 144 + 144 + 144 + 144 + 144.

 

The total cost of the laptop is $720.

 

Samantha, please message me.  I would love to be your math tutor, I can teach you Math in a fun and easy way so you will always understand it.  In person is much better than over the internet.

 

Best

-Gian

Answer 2

(Cost of Laptop)*(2/5) = $288

 

Divide both sides of the equation by 2/5:

 

Cost of Laptop = $288/(2/5)

 

Invert and multiply:

 

Cost of Laptop = ($288)*(5/2)

 

Can you finish it from here?