Question

The population of the school increased by 16%, and now the population is 667. What was the population before the increase?

Answer 1

well, the population before the increase was "x", which oddly enough is the 100%, now if it increased by 16% that means 100% + 16% = 116%, and we happen to know that's 667

`\begin{array}{ccll} amount&\%\\ \cline{1-2} x & 100\\ 667& 116 \end{array} \implies \cfrac{x}{667}~~=~~\cfrac{100}{116} \\\\\\ \cfrac{x}{667}=\cfrac{25}{29}\implies 29x=(25)(667)\implies x=\cfrac{(25)(667)}{29}\implies x=575`