The enrollment at White oak High School was 547 students in 1990. next decade, enrollment at the high school decreased by 37%. what is the approximate amount of decrease?

1 Answer
Jul 2, 2017

See a solution process below:

Explanation:

The decrease would be about 37% of 547.

"Percent" or "%" means "out of 100" or "per 100", Therefore 37% can be written as #37/100#.

When dealing with percents the word "of" means "times" or "to multiply".

Finally, lets call the decrease in the number of students we are looking for "d".

Putting this altogether we can write this equation and solve for #d# while keeping the equation balanced:

#d = 37/100 xx 547#

#d = 20239/100#

#d = 202.39#

The amount of the decrease was approximately 202 students.