SOLUTION: How would you solve a question like this: 4/5 of a number is 5 more than 3/4 of the number. Find the number.

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Question 1098321: How would you solve a question like this:
4/5 of a number is 5 more than 3/4 of the number. Find the number.
Answer by greenestamps(13200) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!

First of all, "of" in a mathematical statement usually means multiplication. So "4/5 of a number" means you take the number and multiply it by 4/5.

For your problem, let the unknown number be x. Then 4/5 of the number is (4/5)x, and 3/4 of the number is (3/4)x. The problem says 4/5 of the number is 5 more than 3/4 of the number, so...
%284%2F5%29x+=+%283%2F4%29x+%2B+5

There are many ways to go from here to solve the problem; use whatever method you are most comfortable with.

Probably the easiest for most people would be to first multiply the whole equation by the least common multiple of the denominators to clear fractions.

Another clear possibility for this particular example is to convert the fractions to decimals, since both 4/5 and 3/4 have "nice" decimal representations.