DiMatteo Mod5 Application 1

Applications with Percents

Module 5 Application Assignment
Samantha DiMatteo
Marygrove College

Zambo (2008) states, Percent is a mathematical concept that permeates our lives (p. 419).
DiMatteo Mod5 Application 2

(1) Kelly is the pitcher for her softball team. She won 75% of
the games she pitched. If she pitched a total of 24
games, how many games did she win?

In this problem students have to identify the part when given the whole and
the percent.

To use an algebraic approach to this problem, students could set up a

proportion. Since we are missing the part we can denote the top of one
part
fraction x. The whole is the total number of games (24), so the
whole
x
yields . Since we are given the percent of the games she pitched we
24
75
write .
100

x 75 x 75 100 x 1800
= = 100 x=1800 =
24 100 24 100 100 100
x=18

Therefore, Kelly won 18 games.

Another approach to this problem is to use a bar diagram.

This allows students to represent each quarter of the number of games and
then visually see that three-quarters (75%) yields 18 games.

1 2 3 4 100/4 = 25
25+25+25 = 100
1/4 of 100 = 25
6 + 6 + 6 = 18
25 x 4 = 100

100 - 75 = 25
25% 25% 25% 25%
6 games 6 games 6 games 6 games

Student Question: I always thought that we were supposed to make percents into
decimals before we started working with them algebraically. Why cant I use
.75 75
opposed to ?
100 100
 DiMatteo Mod5 Application 3

Answer: When we change our percentages to decimals we are actually dividing by

75 .75
100. For example, is .75, but if you were to write the result is
100 100
actually .0075 which is not equivalent to 75%. If you choose to solely write .75 as a
representation for 75% that is perfectly acceptable and your final result will be
the same either way.
(2) Tylers tennis season lasts for 3 months. What percent of
the year does he play tennis?

In this problem students have to identify the percent when given the part
and the whole.

To use an algebraic approach to this problem, students could set up a

proportion. Since we are missing the percent we can denote the top of one
fraction x and since percent means out of 100 the bottom of our fraction
x
will be a 100, . The part is 3 months out of the whole which is the
100
part 3
total number of months in a year (12), so the yields .
whole 12

3 x 3 x 12 x 300
= = 12 x=300 = x=25
12 100 12 100 12 12

Therefore, Tyler plays tennis for 25% of the year.

Another approach to this problem is to use a pie diagram.

This allows students to represent the 12 months of the year and visually see
that 3 months is of the year implies that Tyler plays tennis for 25% of the
year.

1 month
1 month 25%
1 month

1 year = 12 months 3 months = 25%

Student Question: There is no 100 in the problem, so how do I know to put

my percent over one hundred when I set up a proportion?
DiMatteo Mod5 Application 4

Answer: Percent is derived from the Latin word centum. Centum means
100, so per centum means per 100. Therefore anytime we are discussing
percents we will always write our fractional part out of 100.
(3) David made the varsity soccer team. The coach played
him in 50% of the games. If he played in 17 games, how
many total games were there in the season?

In this problem students have to identify the whole when given the part and
the percent.

To use an algebraic approach to this problem, students could set up a

proportion. We must consider that we always represent the part over the
part
whole ( ) and since we are missing the whole we can denote the
whole
bottom of one fraction x. The part is the number of games that David
part 17
played (17), so the yields . Since we are given the percent of
whole x
50
the games he played we write that in fraction form, .
100

17 50 17 50 50 x 1700
= = 50 x=1700 = x=34
x 100 x 100 50 50

There were a total of 34 games in Davids soccer season.

Another approach to this problem is to use mental math or estimation.

Since David played in 50% of the games and students recognize that that as
a fraction 50% is equal to . They would simply need to double the number
of games he played to reveal the total number of games.

Student Question: If I know that 50% is equivalent to can I use that in my

50
proportion opposed to ?
100

Answer: You can represent any fractional component of your proportion with
an alternate fraction as long as it is equivalent. Reducing your fractions
before solving will often make the computation more simplistic. You could
also use the decimal that correlates with that fraction. For example,
DiMatteo Mod5 Application 5

50
instead of or you could use 0.5. As long as your algebraic steps are
100
correct you will identify the correct solution.

References

Van de Walle, J. A., Karp, K. S., & Bay-Williams, J. M. (2013).

Elementary and middle school mathematics methods: Teaching
developmentally (8 th ed.). Pearson: Boston.

Zambo, R. (2008). Percents can make sense. Mathematics Teaching in

the Middle School, 13(7), 418422.