SOLUTION: Helen has 1/5 of her portfolio in US stocks, 1/8 of her portfolio in European stocks, and 1/10 of her portfolio in Japanese stocks. The remainder is invested in municipal bonds. Wh

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Question 243377: Helen has 1/5 of her portfolio in US stocks, 1/8 of her portfolio in European stocks, and 1/10 of her portfolio in Japanese stocks. The remainder is invested in municipal bonds. What percent is invested in municipal bonds?
Answer by oberobic(2304) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
All of the pieces have to sum to 100% of her portfolio. So we can set it up like the following:
%0D%0A%281%2F5%29+%2B+%281%2F8%29+%2B+%281%2F10%29+%2B+%281%2Fm%29+=+100%25%0D%0A
,
where 1/m is the proportion in municipal stocks.
.
The first three terms can be combined using a least common denominator of 40.
.
%0D%0A%288+%2B+5+%2B+4%29%2F40+%2B+%281%2Fm%29+=+%2817%2F40%29+%2B+%281%2Fm%29+=+1%0D%0A
.
By inspection, we can tell that 1/m must be 23/40 to make the equation true.
23/40 = 57.5%