Ethan correctly answers 80% of the total questions on his history test. He correctly answers 32 questions. What was the number of questions on Ethan’s history test?

Answer 1

Let x = number of questions on the history test.

Then:

80% of x = 32. Change 80% to a decimal, "of" to multiplication to end with an equation that looks like this:

0.8 x = 32

Now divide both sides of the equation by 0.8 to solve for x.

x = 32/0.8 or x = 32/ (4/5) = 32(5/4) = 8(5) = 40.

Check:

What is 80% of 40?

0.8 (40) = 32.0