All ACT Math Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #57 : Percentage
In 2014, a basketball team won
games. In 2013, the team won fewer games than it did in 2014. How many games did the team win in 2013?
If the team won
fewer games, subtract of from :Step 1: Find
% of
Step 2: Subtract from
Example Question #6 : How To Find The Percent Of Decrease
If a new television cost
for a store to purchase and was originally on sale for , by what percentage must it be marked down in order for the store to make a profit?
First, calculate the amount of profit that will need to be made to earn a
profit. This is done by converting to and multiplying it by to get . This means that the store can mark down the television to dollars. Thus, we are asking for the percent change from to . This is calculated:
This means that it is a
markdown.Example Question #1 : How To Find The Percent Of Decrease
A person who was originally
pounds lost pounds. By what percentage did his or her body weight decrease? Round to the nearest hundredth of a percent.
The formula for percentage change is represented as:
Since the person has lost
pounds, he or she will weigh . Thus, we know that our formula could be written:
Since we are looking for the percentage of decrease, we can represent this as a positive number. (To decrease by a positive amount is to have a negative percentage change, absolutely speaking.) Thus, our answer is
.Example Question #1 : How To Find Percentage
Jack and Jill have saved up $3500 for a vacation to Bermuda. Package Deal A costs $2500 plus an additional 30% tax. Package Deal B costs $2400 with an additional 3/9 of the price added for airfare. Package deal C costs $3225 with an included 10% tax. Package deal D costs $1800 per person. Which package deal will save them the most money?
B
D
C
A
B
Calculate the price of each Package Deal. A = $2500(1.3) = $3250, B = $2400 (1+3/9) = $3200. C = $3225, D = $3600. Remember that 1 = 9/9 for fraction addition. Package deal C’s wording is tricky, the tax is already included. Package Deal B is the best deal.
Example Question #2 : How To Find Percentage
Tim Duncan made 14 out of 16 free throws. Tony Parker made 9 out of 10 free throws. Danny Green made 7 out of 8 free throws. Whose shooting percentage was the best?
All three players were equally the best
Tony Parker
Tim and Danny were both equally the best
Tim Duncan
Danny Green
Tony Parker
For Tim, his percentage was .875 or 87.5%. For Tony, his percentage was .90 or 90%. For Danny, his percentage was also .875 or 87.5%. Thus Tony was the best.
Example Question #151 : Arithmetic
Johnny earned 5 % commission on a car he sold for $25,000. How much money did he make?
$2,000
$2,500
None of the answers are correct
$1,250
$1,500
$1,250
$ sales x % Commission = $ Commission
25000 x 0.05 = 1250
Example Question #4 : Other Percentage
Joey buys a sweatshirt for $35 that was originally sold for $50. What is the percent discount?
30 %
15 %
70 %
50 %
20 %
30 %
Amount of discount = original price – new price
% discount = amount of discount ÷ original price
% discount = 15/50 = 0.3 or 30%
Example Question #5 : Other Percentage
Bryan has white socks and blue socks in his drawer, in a ratio of 4 : 7. What percent of his socks are white?
57%
75%
36%
64%
30%
36%
You divide the number of blue socks, 4, by the number of total socks, 11, giving you 36%.
Example Question #6 : Other Percentage
There are 9 marbles in a box, and 4 of them are red.
What percentage of the marbles in the box are NOT red?
50%
44%
99%
45%
55%
55%
There are 5 non-red marbles and 9 total marbles.
5/9 = 0.555, which is about 55%
Example Question #4 : How To Find Percentage
What number is 130% of 50?
Verbal cues are "is" and "of." Is means equals and of means multiplication.
So the equation to solve becomes
which equals 65.