Question

This year's soybean crop of 224000 t represents an increase of 40% over last year's crop. How many tons of soybeans were produced last year?

Answer 1

well, last year it was "x", which oddly enough is the 100%.

now, this year is 224000 tons, and that's an increase of 40%, so that's really the 100% + 40% = 140%, so if 224000 is the 140%, what's "x"?

`\begin{array}{ccll} tons&\%\\ \cline{1-2} x & 100\\ 224000& 140 \end{array} \implies \cfrac{x}{224000}~~=~~\cfrac{100}{140} \implies \cfrac{ x }{ 224000 } ~~=~~ \cfrac{ 5 }{ 7 } \\\\\\ 7x=(5)(224000)\implies x=\cfrac{(5)(224000)}{7}\implies x=160000`