Question

What is 60 divided by 15%?

Answer 1

Hint: We are given a whole number and a percentage number and we need to divide them. To divide these two numbers, first we need to convert the percentage number into fractional numbers. Now, % is a unit of measurement and it equals $ \dfrac{1}{{100}} $ . So, we can write 15% as $ \dfrac{{15}}{{100}} $ . Then we are going to multiply these two numbers by taking the reciprocal of the fractional number.

Complete step-by-step answer:
In this question we are given two numbers 60 and 15%.
We need to divide 60 by 15%.
Here, 60 is the dividend and 15% is the divisor.
But, first we need to convert 15% into fraction to carry out division.
% is a unit of measurement and it equals $ \dfrac{1}{{100}} $ .
So, 15% $ = 15 \times \dfrac{1}{{100}} $
 $ \Rightarrow 15\% = \dfrac{{15}}{{100}} $
Therefore, now we need to divide 60 by $ \dfrac{{15}}{{100}} $ .
Division of a whole number with a fractional number:
Step 1:
Write down the numbers to be divided.
 $ \Rightarrow 60 \div \dfrac{{15}}{{100}} $
Step 2:
There is a rule that when dividing a whole number with a fraction, you can multiply the whole number with a fraction by writing the reciprocal.
 $ \Rightarrow 60 \times \dfrac{{100}}{{15}} $
Now, 60 $ = 15 \times 4 $ . So, 15 in the numerator and 15 in the denominator gets cancelled.
 $
   \Rightarrow 4 \times 100 \\
   \Rightarrow 400 \;
  $
Hence, 60 divided by 15% is 400.
So, the correct answer is “400”.

Note: Reciprocal means writing numerator term in denominator and writing denominator term in numerator. Keep in mind that while taking the reciprocal of a fraction you have to change the division sign to multiplication always.