Peter has a kayak business. For every kayak he rents, he donates $15 \% of the rental price to a charity. Which equation can be used to find the amount of money Peter donates for a $40 rental?
A. $15 \times 40$
B. $0.15 \times 40$
C. $0.15 \div 40$
D. $15 \div 40$
Answer (1)
Convert the percentage to a decimal: 15% = 0.15 .
Multiply the decimal by the rental price: 0.15 × 40 .
The equation to find the donation amount is 0.15 × 40 .
The amount of money Peter donates is 0.15 × 40 .
Explanation
Understanding the problem Peter donates 15% of the rental price of each kayak to a charity. The rental price for a kayak is $40. We need to find the equation that calculates the amount Peter donates.
Converting percentage to decimal To find the amount Peter donates, we need to calculate 15% of 40. F i rs t , w eco n v er tt h e p erce n t a g e t o a d ec ima l . T oco n v er t a p erce n t a g e t o a d ec ima l , w e d i v i d e b y 100 : 15% = 100 15 = 0.15 $
Calculating the donation amount Now, we multiply the decimal by the rental price to find the donation amount: 0.15 × 40 = 6
Finding the equation Therefore, the equation to find the amount of money Peter donates for a $40 rental is 0.15 × 40 .
Examples
Imagine you are shopping and want to calculate the sales tax on an item. If the item costs $50 and the sales tax is 8%, you would calculate the tax by multiplying the price by the decimal equivalent of the percentage: $0.08 \times 50 = $4. This is similar to Peter's donation calculation, where he multiplies the rental price by the decimal equivalent of his donation percentage. Understanding how to calculate percentages is useful in many real-life situations, such as calculating discounts, taxes, and tips.
