We know that the car’s tank holds 16gal and that it is 1/4 full. Therefore, the tank is 25% full, because 1/4=.25(100)=25%. Remember that a percentage is the quotient of a fraction multiplied by 100, and that percentages are out of 100. So, 16 is the “100” is this case, since it is the total whole. We must multiply the percentage to 16 to figure out what 25% of 16 is:
25%=.25
16(.25)=4
Therefore, 4/16=1/4, so 4 is 1/4 of 16.
Always remember that to find the percentage of a whole, multiply the percentage to the whole. A formula for this is:
P=W(p), where W=whole, P=part, and p=percentage in “.” or “%” form.
In this instance, we knew that W=16, since the car’s tank is 100% full at 16 gallons, so it is the whole value. We also knew that p=1/4=.25. So, plugging in these values to the formula, we get:
P=16(.25)=4, so the portion size is 4, as 4/16=1/4.
Your answer is 4 gallons are currently in the tank.