Three-fourths of a number is 7/8. How do you find the number in lowest terms?

1 Answer
Feb 13, 2017

See the enter solution process below:

Explanation:

First, let's call the number we are looking for n/

In this problem the word "of" means to multiply or times.

"three fourths of a number is 7/8" can then be rewritten as:

3/4 xx n = 7/8

We can now solve for n by multiplying each side of the equation by color(red)(4)/color(blue)(3) while keeping the equation balanced:

color(red)(4)/color(blue)(3) xx 3/4 xx n = color(red)(4)/color(blue)(3) xx 7/8

cancel(color(red)(4))/cancel(color(blue)(3)) xx color(blue)(cancel(color(black)(3)))/color(red)(cancel(color(black)(4))) xx n = color(red)(4)/color(blue)(3) xx 7/(4 xx 2)

n = cancel(color(red)(4))/color(blue)(3) xx 7/(color(red)(cancel(color(black)(4))) xx 2)

n = 7/(3 xx 2)

n = 7/6