Question

The top three sources of oil imports for the United States in the same year were Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and Canada. The three top countries accounted for 47% of oil imports. The United States imported 1.8% more from Saudi Arabia than they did from Mexico, and 1.7% more from Saudi Arabia than they did from Canada. What percent of the United States oil imports were from these three countries?

Answer 1

To find the percent of U.S. oil imports from Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and Canada, let's denote Mexico's percentage as x. Saudi Arabia imports x + 1.8% and Canada imports x - 0.1%, totaling 47% as mentioned in the problem. The calculation of individual percentages is not necessary since the total combined percentage is already known to be 47%.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student has posed a question that involves algebra and percentages, specifically in the context of United States oil imports from three countries: Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and Canada.

The information provided states that these three countries combined account for 47% of the U.S. oil imports.

Given that Saudi Arabia accounts for 1.8% more oil imports than Mexico and 1.7% more than Canada, the task is to find out the percentage of oil imports that each of the three countries contributes.

To solve this, let's represent the percentage of oil imports from Mexico as x. Therefore, Saudi Arabia accounts for x + 1.8% and Canada for x - 0.1% (since Saudi Arabia imports 1.7% more than Canada, and 1.8% more than Mexico, Canada imports 0.1% less than Mexico). By adding these percentages and equating to 47%, we obtain the equation:

x + (x + 1.8%) + (x - 0.1%) = 47%

Solving for x will provide the separate percentages for each country. However, the question asks for the total percentage from all three countries, which has already been given as 47%.