Math For The Office Professional: Study Unit

Study Unit
Math for the

Office Professional
Reviewed By
Kathryn Gaymer
About the Reviewer
Kathryn Gaymer first began working as an administrative assistant
in college, eventually acquiring the experience to work in the same
capacity supporting higher management of a major corporation. Her
duties included training new hires and business interns along with
all of the usual duties of an administrative assistant.
Ms. Gaymer earned a bachelors degree in early childhood education
with elementary education and mathematics minors from Central
Michigan University. She has completed work in pursuit of a mas-
ters degree in educational administration at Oakland University,
Rochester, MI.
Ms. Gaymer is also a writer, teacher, and graphic designer. She has
written and illustrated numerous educational pieces for both print
and screen. Shes a firm believer that lifelong learning brings rich-
ness all life long.
Copyright 2010 by Penn Foster, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright may be
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Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be
mailed to Copyright Permissions, Penn Foster, 925 Oak Street, Scranton,
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Printed in the United States of America
02/12/14
All terms mentioned in this text that are known to be trademarks or service
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Math for the Office Professional has been developed as a
review of basic math operations: addition, subtraction, multi-
plication, and division. Youll review these operations as they
relate to whole numbers, decimals, and fractions. Youll also
study percentageshow to calculate discounts and series
discounts and how to determine the percent of increase and
decrease. Finally, youll take a look at the metric system and
learn how to convert units of measurement from the metric
system to the English system and from the English system to
the metric system. Throughout the unit youll also receive
instruction in solving problems using a basic handheld
calculator.
The examples in this study unit have been geared to the
business world in an effort to help you see how math is used
in an office situation. If you apply yourself to the principles
presented in the unit, you should have no difficulty with any
math youll encounter in your career.
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Preview
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When you complete this study unit, youll be
able to
Add, subtract, multiply, and divide whole numbers,
decimals, fractions, and mixed numbers
Find averages
Round off whole numbers and decimals
Check your calculations
Change mixed numbers to improper fractions and
vice versa
Calculate the lowest common denominator of a group
of unlike fractions
Change decimals and fractions to percentages and
vice versa
Define the terms rate, percent, and percentage and
use formulas to calculate the values
Calculate discounts and series discounts
Calculate the percentage of increase and decrease
Calculate cash discounts and shipping charges
Explain the difference between simple and compound
interest and how each is calculated
Convert units of measurement from the metric system
to the English system and from the English system to
the metric system
Locate the exchange rate for two different currencies
and convert between them
Use a calculator to solve or check math problems
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MATH AND BUSINESS 1
A Look at Mathematics 1
Accuracy and Speed 2
Problem-Solving Procedure 3
Using the Problem-Solving Procedure 4
WHOLE NUMBERS 7
What Are Whole Numbers? 7
Place Value of Digits 8
Adding Whole Numbers 9
Subtracting Whole Numbers 15
Multiplying Whole Numbers 19
Dividing Whole Numbers 25
Rounding Whole Numbers 33
Finding Averages 35
FRACTIONS 45
What Is a Fraction? 45
Kinds of Fractions 45
Reducing Fractions 46
Changing Improper Fractions to Mixed Numbers 47
Changing Mixed Numbers to Improper Fractions 48
Adding and Subtracting Fractions 48
Multiplying Fractions 53
Dividing Fractions 56
DECIMALS 61
The Importance of Decimals 61
Decimal Defined 61
Place Values of Whole Numbers and Decimals 61
Adding and Subtracting Decimals 62
Multiplying Decimals 63
Dividing Decimals 65
Calculator Applications: Decimals 69
PERCENTAGE 73
Percentage in Business 73
Working with Percentages 73
The Vocabulary of Percentages 76
Solving Percentage Problems 77
Discounts 79
Discount Series 79
Markups and Selling Prices 80
Contents
vi
Sales Taxes 81
Percent of Increase and Decrease 82
Cash Discounts 84
Shipping Charges 85
Calculator Applications: Percentage 85
Percentage versus Percentile 88
INCOME 91
Earning Money 91
Hourly Wages 91
Overtime 92
Piecework Wages 93
Salary 94
Commissions 95
Net Pay 95
Calculator Applications: Income 96
INTEREST 98
Definition 98
Simple Interest 98
Compound Interest 100
Loan Amortization 101
Calculator Applications: Interest 102
THE METRIC SYSTEM 104
Why Metric? 104
Metric Units 104
Using Conversion Factors 105
Calculator Applications: Metric System 108
Foreign Currency Exchange 109
SELF-CHECK ANSWERS 113
1
MATH AND BUSINESS
A Look at Mathematics
Youve probably learned a great deal of mathematics during
your lifetime. Unfortunately, you may seldom use what youve
learned. And anything thats not used or practiced is soon
forgotten. Maybe some of your math skills have become a
little rusty from lack of use. The purpose of this study unit
is to get those skills back into good working order.
Theres really nothing unique about business math. Like all
calculations, business math involves four oper-
ations: addition, subtraction, multiplication,
and division. These four operations are basic to
all calculations youll encounter in both your
business and your personal life (Figure 1).
Your task in learning business math is to call
back the math youve already learned and
apply it to business situations.
Before you begin your review of mathematics,
we would like you to consider two aspects of
math:
1. Mathematics is a subject that you cant
ignore. Its too much a part of your every-
day lifeat home and on the job. It would
be difficult, if not impossible, to find an
individual who doesnt use mathematics as
part of his or her job and life.
Math for the
Office Professional
FIGURE 1A sound
knowledge of busi-
ness math is a must
for all office profes-
sionals.
Math for the Office Professional
2
2. The study of mathematics can be rewarding. Solving a
problem, coming up with the correct solution, and then
being able to use that solution in your professional or
personal life can give a great deal of satisfaction.
Accuracy and Speed
Accuracy and speed are important in all mathematical calcu-
lations. Accuracy without reasonable speed cant satisfy the
demands of todays highly competitive life. And speed without
accuracy is of no value to you or to your employer (Figure 2).
First try to develop accuracy in all your work. Once youve
attained accuracy, work at developing your speed in perform-
ing the calculations. Youll have to determine for yourself how
much practice you need to achieve your desired level of speed.
Throughout this study unit, youll be learning how to use a
handheld calculator to perform basic operations. A calculator
can be a tremendous asset for both speed and accuracy.
FIGURE 2Be accurate.
Errors in calculations can
be costly!
3
Problem-Solving Procedure
If you approach any problem in a logical, orderly manner,
youll get faster, more accurate results. Heres a good proce-
dure to follow for solving any math problem:
Step 1: Read the problem carefully until you know whats
given and whats required. In other words, dont try
to do a problem before you know what its all about.
This may seem like an obvious step, but its often
the downfall of those who have a difficult time doing
mathematics. Dont begin any computations until
you have a clear picture of whats needed. Read and
reread the problem until youre perfectly clear about
its meaning.
Step 2: Write down the facts and figures given and those
that are required. Doing this accomplishes two
things: (1) it impresses on your mind the main
points of the problem, and (2) it allows you to see
if you understand the essential information.
Step 3: Try to find some relationship between the given
quantities and those you must find. This step may
be the most difficult of all, because it requires you
to call on all your mathematical resources. There
are no rules or definite procedures to help you with
this step. Youre on your own with your intelligence,
resourcefulness, and knowledge of mathematics.
Step 4: Decide which mathematical operation will produce
the desired result. If youve completed Step 3 prop-
erly, all you have to do for Step 4 is to put your
analysis into mathematical language.
Step 5: Do the necessary work in a neat and orderly man-
ner and label the result correctly. Neatness and
orderliness are important not only to you but also
to anyone who must look over your work. People
who are good at problem solving usually work in
a careful and orderly manner.
Step 6: Check your work. Be sure your answer is a
reasonable one, and then check it according to
mathematical procedures. Any result is worthless
if it isnt correct. Everyone makes mistakes, but a
competent person finds the mistakes and corrects
them.
4
Of course, you wont have to go through these six steps to
solve every problem you face. Some problems are so simple
that you immediately know how to solve them. However, you
may find this procedure quite helpful for more difficult prob-
lems that require more than one operation to solve.
Using the Problem-Solving Procedure
Lets see how this six-step procedure can be used to solve a
problem.
Problem: To determine shipping charges, you must calculate
the gross weight of a shipment thats to be sent to one of your
best customers. The shipment consists of 20 articles, weigh-
ing 10 lbs (pounds) each. Each article is packed in a separate
box that weighs
1
/
2
lb. If the 20 boxes are put into a freight
container that weighs 15 lbs, what is the gross weight of the
shipment?
Solution: Heres how you can solve this problem using the
six-step procedure.
Step 1: Youre given the weight of an article, the weight
of its individual container, and the weight of the
freight container that holds 20 of the smaller boxes.
You must find the gross weight, which is the total
weight of the shipping container and its contents.
Step 2: There are 20 articles weighing 10 lbs each, 20 boxes
weighing
1
/
2
lb each, and one freight container weigh-
ing 15 lbs.
Step 3: The gross weight (what you must find) is equal to
the weight of the 20 articles, plus the weight of the
20 boxes, plus the weight of the freight container.
Step 4: To find the weight of 20 articles and 20 boxes,
multiply the weight of each by 20. To get the gross
weight, add together the weights of the articles, the
boxes, and the freight container.
5
Step 5: The weight of the 20 articles is
20 10 lbs 200 lbs
The weight of the 20 boxes is
20
1
/
2
lb 10 lbs
The gross weight is
Weight of 20 articles 200 lbs
Weight of 20 boxes 10 lbs
Weight of freight container + 15 lbs
Gross weight (answer) 225 lbs
Step 6: The problem asked for the gross weight, which you
have found. To check your work, perform the solution
in a different manner. Dont use the same procedure
both times. If you do make a mistake in your first
calculation, you may simply repeat the mistake
when you perform the check.
The weight of one article and its box is
10 lbs
1
/
2
lb 10
1
/
2
lbs
The weight of 20 articles and 20 boxes is
20 10
1
/
2
lbs 210 lbs
The gross weight is equal to
Weight of 20 articles and boxes 210 lbs
Weight of freight container + 15 lbs
Gross weight (answer) 225 lbs
Since you have the same answer both times, you can be
reasonably sure that the answer is correct.
6
Self-Check 1
At the end of each section of Math for the Office Professional, youll be asked to pause and
check your understanding of what youve just read by completing a self-check exercise.
Answering these questions will help you review what youve studied so far. Please complete
Self-Check 1 now.
1. What are the four main operations used in mathematics?
__________________________________________________________
2. True or false? Business math uses mathematical operations not found in other areas of math.
Study the following problem. Then complete the directions that follow it.
The checkbook you maintain at your office showed a balance of $825.63. You then wrote
checks for $25.98, $62.12, and $111.65. What is the balance after you deduct these checks?
Complete Steps 13 of the problem-solving procedure applying the information in
this problem.
3. ______________________________________________________________________
4. ______________________________________________________________________
5. ______________________________________________________________________
Check your answers with those on page 113.
7
WHOLE NUMBERS
What Are Whole Numbers?
Whether you realize it or not, you work with whole numbers
every day. Speed limit signs, Social Security numbers, tele-
phone numbers, baseball scores, mileage between cities, and
temperatures are just a few examples of whole numbers in ordi-
nary life (Figure 3). Whole numbers often tell us the answer
to simple questions such as How long? or How many? or
How much? For example, suppose someone asks you how
much money you have in your pocket. You answer, I have
five dollars. Five is the whole number that answers that
question.
As a child, you learned how to count using whole numbers
one, two, three, and so on. A whole number represents a
quantity of whole things. For example, suppose you must
report the number of prospective clients you call each day.
When you count these calls, each number represents one
call.
FIGURE 3You
encounter whole num-
bers every day in a
variety of ways.
8
Long ago, the Arabs (from whom we adopted the number
symbols we use today) realized that zero was also a whole
number. Suppose that one day youre assigned to a special
project at work and youre unable to contact any prospective
clients that day. Therefore, you would have to report that you
contacted zero clients.
So, we can now define a whole number as any member of the
following group:
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 . . .
The smallest whole number is zero, but theres no largest
whole number. No matter what number you think of, theres
always a number thats one higher! The three dots (. . . ) in
the list indicate that whole numbers go on and on forever.
Place Value of Digits
The numbers we use today are based on the decimal system.
The word decimal comes from the Latin word for ten. In the
decimal system, position, or place value, is very important.
To see what position means, take a look at the numbers 729,
273, and 967. The digit 7 is in each of those three numbers.
However, since its in a different position, or place, in each
one, it has a different value each time. In the number 729,
the 7 has a value of 700; in 273, it has a value of 70; and in
967, it has a value of 7. As you can see, the value of any digit
is determined by its position in a number. Its called the
place or position value.
Lets take a closer look at this idea of place value. The first
position at the right-hand end of a whole number is the ones
position. Suppose you work in an office with 398 employees.
In the whole number 398, the 8 is located in the first place
at the right (the ones position), so it represents 8 ones, or 8
employees.
The second place from the right in a whole number, which
has a value ten times greater than the first place, is called
the tens position. In the number 398, the digit 9 means
9 tens, or 90 employees. Since the digit 8 means 8 units,
together the two digits mean 98 units, or 98 employees.
9
The third place from the right has a value ten times greater
than the second placeits the hundreds position. In the
number 398, the digit 3 indicates 3 hundreds, or 300 employ-
ees. Together the digits stand for 398, or 398 employees. Look
now at Figure 4 to see the place values of the different digits
in the whole number 9,603,172.
Adding Whole Numbers
Addition Basics
Adding is the process of combining numbers, called addends,
to derive an answer, called the sum. For example, suppose you
work in New York City and youre planning a business trip
first to Philadelphia and then to Washington, D.C. The dis-
tance between New York and Philadelphia is approximately
90 miles. The distance from Philadelphia to Washington is
approximately 140 miles. How many total miles will you have
to drive to get to Washington, D.C.? The answer is 230 miles
(Figure 5). In this example, the numbers 90 and 140 are the
addends and the number 230 is the sum.
FIGURE 4This figure
shows you how to read
the place value of each
digit in the whole number
9,603,172.
9 6 0 3 1 7 2
FIGURE 5To calculate the distance from New York City to Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., you must
use addition.
10
To perform any addition problems, you must be completely
familiar with (that is, you must memorize) the sums of all
single-digit numbers (Figure 6). You probably already know
all or most of these basic additions, but now is the time to
make sure. Take some time before you go on to review the
addition tables until you can give each answer quickly.
Preparing Numbers for Addition
When you must add two or more numbers with several digits
each, you must first make sure to properly set up the num-
bers. If you dont set up the numbers properly, you wont get
the correct answer.
You set up several whole numbers for addition by writing
them one under the other in a vertical column, with the ones
digits lined up on the right. Then draw a line under the col-
umn of numbers. Youll eventually write the answer under
this line.
1 + 0 = 1
1 + 1 = 2
1 + 2 = 3
1 + 3 = 4
1 + 4 = 5
1 + 5 = 6
1 + 6 = 7
1 + 7 = 8
1 + 8 = 9
1 + 9 =10
6 + 0 = 6
6 + 1 = 7
6 + 2 = 8
6 + 3 = 9
6 + 4 =10
6 + 5 =11
6 + 6 =12
6 + 7 =13
6 + 8 =14
6 + 9 =15
2 + 0 = 2
2 + 1 = 3
2 + 2 = 4
2 + 3 = 5
2 + 4 = 6
2 + 5 = 7
2 + 6 = 8
2 + 7 = 9
2 + 8 =10
2 + 9 =11
7 + 0 = 7
7 + 1 = 8
7 + 2 = 9
7 + 3 =10
7 + 4 =11
7 + 5 =12
7 + 6 =13
7 + 7 =14
7 + 8 =15
7 + 9 =16
3 + 0 = 3
3 + 1 = 4
3 + 2 = 5
3 + 3 = 6
3 + 4 = 7
3 + 5 = 8
3 + 6 = 9
3 + 7 =10
3 + 8 =11
3 + 9 =12
8 + 0 = 8
8 + 1 = 9
8 + 2 =10
8 + 3 =11
8 + 4 =12
8 + 5 =13
8 + 6 =14
8 + 7 =15
8 + 8 =16
8 + 9 =17
4 + 0 = 4
4 + 1 = 5
4 + 2 = 6
4 + 3 = 7
4 + 4 = 8
4 + 5 = 9
4 + 6 =10
4 + 7 =11
4 + 8 =12
4 + 9 =13
9 + 0 = 9
9 + 1 =10
9 + 2 =11
9 + 3 =12
9 + 4 =13
9 + 5 =14
9 + 6 =15
9 + 7 =16
9 + 8 =17
9 + 9 =18
5 + 0 = 5
5 + 1 = 6
5 + 2 = 7
5 + 3 = 8
5 + 4 = 9
5 + 5 =10
5 + 6 =11
5 + 7 =12
5 + 8 =13
5 + 9 =14
ADDITION TABLES
FIGURE 6Addition Tables for Single-Digit Numbers
11
Example: At the end of each week, you must report the
number of calls your department services. The totals you
have for last week are Monday, 77 calls; Tuesday, 81 calls;
Wednesday, 113 calls; Thursday, 94 calls; and Friday,
102 calls.
Heres how you would set up these numbers for addition:
77
81
113
94
102
Notice that all the digits in the ones column are lined up at
the right. Also notice that all the digits in the tens and hun-
dreds columns are aligned.
Performing Addition
Once you have all the numbers properly set up, youre ready
to add them. Lets go back to the example of the number of
crates shipped. Heres the problem:
Always start your addition with the col-
umn of digits at the extreme right. Add
the digits in the ones column (7 1 3
4 2 17). Write the 7 below the ones
column and carry the 1 to the top of the
tens column.
Add the digits in the tens column, includ-
ing the 1 you carried (1 + 7 + 8 + 1 + 9
+ 0 = 26). Write the 6 under the tens col-
umn and carry the 2 to the top of the
hundreds column.
77
81
113
94
102
7
1
2 1
77
81
113
94
102
67

12
Add the digits in the hundreds column,
including the 2 you carried (2 + 1 + 1 = 4).
Write the 4 in the answer under the hun-
dreds column.
The answer is 467. Your department serviced 467 calls last
week.
Checking Your Addition
One nice thing about mathematical problems is that you can
always check your calculations in some way to be sure that
youve done your work correctly. To check your work in addi-
tion, you must apply one of the rules of addition: The order
in which you add two numbers or a group of numbers doesnt
change the sum. No matter how you switch the numbers
around, the sum will always be the same. Consider the follow-
ing example:
1 2 3 6 2 3 1 6 3 1 2 6
The sum is the same for all three arrangements of numbers.
Once youve completed your addition, you can check it by
adding the numbers a second time in a different order. Study
the problems given below to see how you perform this check.
Problem Check Problem Check
Calculator Applications: Addition
At regular points in this study unit, youll be learning how
to use a calculator to solve problems. A calculator can be a
wonderful asset to anyone who works with numbers regu-
larly. Calculators can perform mathematical operations much
faster and much more accurately than we can ever hope to
do by hand.
2 1
77
81
113
94
102
467
1 1 1
27
3749
681
4457
3749
681
27
4457
1 1 1
248
27
643
918
1 1
643
27
248
918
1 1

13
At this point you may be asking yourself why you have to
learn how to do all this math by hand if a calculator can do
it better and faster. Thats a fair question, and the answer is
quite simple. If you were to use a calculator to perform math-
ematical operations without understanding those operations
yourself, you would run the risk of making errors. You would
simply be punching numbers into a machine without know-
ing whats going on. This can be especially troublesome when
you begin to work with more complicated problems. If you
dont understand the operations and how they work to pro-
duce an answer, then you wont be able to enter the
problems correctly into the calculator. You wont be able to
determine whether the answer you get is a logical onethat
is, does it make sense?
One important use of a calculator is for checking the work
you perform by hand. If the results of a calculation are the
same by hand and on a calculator, you can be sure the answer
is correct. Get into the habit of using a calculator to check
your work.
Figure 7 shows the important keys of a standard handheld
calculator. Youll be learning how to use each of the identified
keys in this study unit.
FIGURE 7Standard
Format of a Basic
Handheld Calculator
14
So far youve been working with the addition of whole num-
bers. Lets see how a calculator can do these problems for
you. To begin, lets add the numbers in Figure 5. Heres how
you would do it:
1. Turn on your calculator. (A zero will probably appear in
the window.)
2. Enter the first number to be added (90). To do this, press
the 9 on the calculator and then the 0. (The number 90
should now be in the display window.)
3. Tell the calculator that you want to add this number to
another number. Press the calculator key with the addi-
tion sign (+).
4. Enter the second number (226). First press the 2 twice
and then the 6. (The number 226 should now be in the
window.)
5. To get the answer to your addition, press the equal key
(=). (The answer, 316, should appear in the window.)
Once youve completed a calculation, you have three options.
First, you can shut off the calculator if youre finished with it.
Second, you can perform additional operations (addition, sub-
traction, multiplication, or division) on the number showing in
the window. Or third, you can press the clear key and start a
whole new problem.
Press the clear key now and well do another addition prob-
lem. The clear key on most calculators is the one with the
letter C on it.
Lets add the series of numbers given in the example on
page 11. Follow these steps:
1. Enter the first number (press 7 twice).
2. Press the + key and enter the second number (81).
3. Press the + key again and enter the third number (113).
4. Press the + key and enter the fourth number (94).
5. Press the + key and enter the final number (102).
6. To get your answer, press the = key. (The window on
your calculator should display the answer as 467.)
15
Subtracting Whole Numbers
Subtraction Basics
Subtraction is the opposite of addition. In addition, you com-
bine numbers to make a larger total; in subtraction, you take
one number away from another number to make a smaller
total.
In subtraction, the number you start with is the minuend,
which is the larger number. The number you subtract, or
take away, is the subtrahend. The result, or the answer, of
subtraction is the difference. The symbol for subtraction is ,
which is the minus sign.
5 Minuend
Minus Sign 2 Subtrahend
3 Difference
If youve learned the addition tables well, that should make
learning the subtraction tables that much easier, because, as
weve just mentioned, subtraction is the opposite of addition.
To show you how this works, consider the problem 9 2 7.
To turn this into an addition problem, simply read it back-
wards and insert a plus sign (+). Therefore, 7 2 9.
HINTS FOR USING CALCULATORS
Enter each number carefully and accurately.
Always check your answers by performing the calculation a second time. (Even though the
calculator wont make a mistake, you may enter a number incorrectly or press the wrong
operation key.)
Use your calculator to check problems that you perform by hand. If the answers are the
same, youll know that your calculations are correct.
16
Knowing this simple principle should help you in your study
of the subtractions tables (Figure 8). If youre already familiar
with these tables, youre off to a good start. If not, you have
a little work to do. Either way, take the time now to review
these tables until you can give the correct answers quickly.
1 1 = 0
2 1 = 1
3 1 = 2
4 1 = 3
5 1 = 4
6 1 = 5
7 1 = 6
8 1 = 7
9 1 = 8
10 1 = 9
6 6 = 0
7 6 = 1
8 6 = 2
9 6 = 3
10 6 = 4
11 6 = 5
12 6 = 6
13 6 = 7
14 6 = 8
15 6 = 9
2 2 = 0
3 2 = 1
4 2 = 2
5 2 = 3
6 2 = 4
7 2 = 5
8 2 = 6
9 2 = 7
10 2 = 8
11 2 = 9
7 7 = 0
8 7 = 1
9 7 = 2
10 7 = 3
11 7 = 4
12 7 = 5
13 7 = 6
14 7 = 7
15 7 = 8
16 7 = 9
3 3 = 0
4 3 = 1
5 3 = 2
6 3 = 3
7 3 = 4
8 3 = 5
9 3 = 6
10 3 = 7
11 3 = 8
12 3 = 9
8 8 = 0
9 8 = 1
10 8 = 2
11 8 = 3
12 8 = 4
13 8 = 5
14 8 = 6
15 8 = 7
16 8 = 8
17 8 = 9
4 4 = 0
5 4 = 1
6 4 = 2
7 4 = 3
8 4 = 4
9 4 = 5
10 4 = 6
11 4 = 7
12 4 = 8
13 4 = 9
9 9 = 0
10 9 = 1
11 9 = 2
12 9 = 3
13 9 = 4
14 9 = 5
15 9 = 6
16 9 = 7
17 9 = 8
18 9 = 9
5 5 = 0
6 5 = 1
7 5 = 2
8 5 = 3
9 5 = 4
10 5 = 5
11 5 = 6
12 5 = 7
13 5 = 8
14 5 = 9
SUBTRACTION TABLES
FIGURE 8Subtraction Tables for Single-Digit Subtrahends
Preparing Numbers for Subtraction
The numbers in subtraction are set up exactly as they are for
addition. Remember to line up the ones digits on the right if
youre working with whole numbers.
The only new thing you must remember is to place the minuend
above the subtrahend. Here are two subtraction problems that
are properly set up:
142 928
6 63
17
Performing Subtraction
Example: Janet works 38 hrs (hours) each week. So far this
week she has worked 26 hrs. How many more hours does she
have to work this week?
To determine the answer, you must subtract 26 from 38 to
see how many hours are left. Heres how its done:
Set up the problem. Begin your subtraction
with the ones column at the extreme right
(just as you did in addition). Subtract the
numbers in the ones column (8 6 2)
and write the answer below that column.
Subtract the digits in the tens column
(3 2 1) and write that answer below
the tens column.
The answer is 12. Janet still has to work 12 more hours this
week.
Sometimes, when youre subtracting in a column, youll dis-
cover that the digit in the subtrahend is larger than the digit
in the minuend. When this happens, you have to borrow. The
following examples illustrate the process of borrowing.
Example: In one week you were to prepare 4,550 pieces of
mail for a bulk mailing. At the end of the day on Thursday,
you had completed 3,562. How many more pieces of mail
must you complete on Friday to finish the job?
To find the answer, you must subtract 3,562 from 4,550.
Set up the problem. Begin at the right. Since
you cant subtract 2 from 0, you must bor-
row. The example at the left shows you how.
You borrow 1 ten from the tens column.
Cross out the 5 and write 4. Then, cross
out the zero in the ones column and write
10 above it (10 0 10).
Subtract the digits in the ones column and
write the answer (10 2 8). Move to the
tens column. Again, you have to borrow.
You borrow 1 hundred from the hundreds
column. Cross out the 5 and write 4 above
it. Then, cross out the 4 in the tens col-
umn and write 14 above it (10 4 14).
38
26
2
38
26
2
4 5 5 0
3 5 6 2
4 10
,
,
4 5 5 0
3 5 6 2
8
4 4 10
14
,
,
18
Subtract the digits in the tens column and
write the answer. Go on to the hundreds
column and youll find you have to borrow
a third time. You borrow 1 thousand from
the thousands column. Cross out the 4 and
write 3 above it. Then, cross out the 4 in
the hundreds column and write 14 above
it (10 4 14).
Subtract the digits in the hundreds column
(14 5 9) and write the answer. Finally,
subtract the digits in the thousands col-
umn. Since 3 3 0, you write nothing
in that column.
The answer is 988. You must complete 988 pieces of mail on
Friday to finish the job.
Checking Your Subtraction
Because subtraction is the opposite of addition, you can use
addition to check your work in subtraction. To check a sub-
traction problem, simply add the difference (the answer) to
the subtrahend. If your subtraction is correct, the sum of
these two numbers will equal the minuend.
Example: To show you how this works, lets look at the two
examples we just covered.
Problem Check Problem Check
Since the sum equals the original minuend, the subtraction
is correct.
4 5 5 0
3 5 6 2
9 8 8
3 4 4 10
14 14
,
,
988
3 562
4 550
,
,
4 550
3 562
988
,
,
12
26
38
38
26
12
4 5 5 0
3 5 6 2
8 8
3 4 4 10
14 14
,
,
CAUTION
If you have to borrow when subtracting, always show the process of
borrowing. Dont try to do the borrowing in your head. Thats when
mistakes happen!
19
Calculator Applications: Subtraction
Youve just learned one way to check your subtraction. Now
lets check subtraction by using a calculator. Youll have to
use one different key to perform subtraction. That, of course,
is the minus key (). Look again at Figure 7 and find the
minus key in the illustration. Then locate it on your own cal-
culator.
First check the subtraction problem, 38 26. To do this,
follow these steps:
1. Turn on your calculator.
2. Enter the minuend (38). (You must always enter the
minuend first in a subtraction problem.)
3. Tell the calculator that youre going to subtract some-
thing from this number. Press the key.
4. Enter the subtrahend (26).
5. To get the answer, press the = key. The answer 12
should appear in the window.
Follow the same procedure to check the other example
(4,550 3,562).
Remember to enter the minuend first.
Multiplying Whole Numbers
Multiplication Basics
Multiplication is simply a shorthand method of making repeated
additions. Suppose you must make three copies of a manu-
script for each of four individuals. How many copies would
you need all together?
To determine the number you need, you could, of course, use
addition. You have four individuals who need three copies
each. Therefore, you would need 3 3 3 3 copies. The
sum of these numbers indicates that you need 12 copies. A
much quicker way to solve this problem is to multiply (4 3
12).
20
Just as the numbers in an addition or subtraction problem
have names, so do the numbers in a multiplication problem.
The two numbers you multiply are the factors. In the preceding
example, 4 and 3 are the factors. Each factor has a separate
name. The factor you multiply is the multiplicand (4), and the
factor you multiply by is the multiplier (3). The result, or the
answer, of a multiplication problem is the product (12).
4 Multiplicand
Times sign 3 Multiplier
12 Product
To learn to multiply efficiently, you must memorize the multi-
plication tables (Figure 9). To make this job easier, consider
the following rules of multiplication:
Rule 1: The product of any number and zero is always
zero. If you know this rule, you know the entire
first column plus the first multiplication fact in
each column. Look at Figure 9 and find the facts
that represent a number times zero.
Rule 2: The product of any number and 1 is always that
same number. If you know this rule, you know the
entire second column plus the second multiplica-
tion fact in each of the other columns. Again, look
at Figure 9 and find the facts that represent a
number times 1.
Rule 3: The order in which you multiply two numbers doesnt
change the product. Knowing this rule automatically
cuts your work in half. For example, if you memorize
the multiplication fact 2 4 = 8, then you also know
that 4 2 = 8. Find several of these pairs in Figure 9
and remember this rule as you memorize the tables.
}Factors
21
Performing Multiplication
When one factor has more than one digit. Sometimes, youll
have to multiply numbers that have more than one digit.
Example: There are 52 people who work in your office. Each
person is allowed three personal days per year. How many per-
sonal days will be taken if all 52 employees use their three
days?
Set up the problem with the number hav-
ing the larger number of digits on top and
the ones digits lined up at the right. Draw
a horizontal line below the numbers and
then multiply.
First, multiply the 3 by the 2. Write the
product below the line in the ones place.
52
3
52
3
6
0 0 = 0
1 0 = 0
2 0 = 0
3 0 = 0
4 0 = 0
5 0 = 0
6 0 = 0
7 0 = 0
8 0 = 0
9 0 = 0
0 5 = 0
1 5 = 5
2 5 = 10
3 5 = 15
4 5 = 20
5 5 = 25
6 5 = 30
7 5 = 35
8 5 = 40
9 5 = 45
0 1 = 0
1 1 = 1
2 1 = 2
3 1 = 3
4 1 = 4
5 1 = 5
6 1 = 6
7 1 = 7
8 1 = 8
9 1 = 9
0 6 = 0
1 6 = 6
2 6 = 12
3 6 = 18
4 6 = 24
5 6 = 30
6 6 = 36
7 6 = 42
8 6 = 48
9 6 = 54
0 2 = 0
1 2 = 2
2 2 = 4
3 2 = 6
4 2 = 8
5 2 = 10
6 2 = 12
7 2 = 14
8 2 = 16
9 2 = 18
0 7 = 0
1 7 = 7
2 7 = 14
3 7 = 21
4 7 = 28
5 7 = 35
6 7 = 42
7 7 = 49
8 7 = 56
9 7 = 63
0 3 = 0
1 3 = 3
2 3 = 6
3 3 = 9
4 3 = 12
5 3 = 15
6 3 = 18
7 3 = 21
8 3 = 24
9 3 = 27
0 8 = 0
1 8 = 8
2 8 = 16
3 8 = 24
4 8 = 32
5 8 = 40
6 8 = 48
7 8 = 56
8 8 = 64
9 8 = 72
0 4 = 0
1 4 = 4
2 4 = 8
3 4 = 12
4 4 = 16
5 4 = 20
6 4 = 24
7 4 = 28
8 4 = 32
9 4 = 36
0 9 = 0
1 9 = 9
2 9 = 18
3 9 = 27
4 9 = 36
5 9 = 45
6 9 = 54
7 9 = 63
8 9 = 72
9 9 = 81
MULTIPLICATION TABLES
FIGURE 9Multiplication Tables for Single-Digit Numbers
22
Then, multiply the 3 by the 5 and write
the product below the line and to the left
of the 6.
The answer is 156. There will be 156 personal days taken.
Just as you did in addition, youll occasionally need to carry
in a multiplication problem. The following example shows the
carrying process in multiplication.
Set up the numbers and begin to multiply
at the far right. Since 3 5 15, you must
write the 5 below the line and carry the 1
to the next columnin this case the tens
column.
Next, multiply 2 by 5, which gives you 10.
To this product you must add the 1 you
carried. Since 10 1 11, write this
below the line in the answer.
The answer is 115.
When both factors have more than one digit. The num-
bers that you multiply arent always as small as the ones in
the preceding examples. Sometimes both the multiplicand
and the multiplier have two, three, or even more digits. Lets
take a look at an example.
Example: It has been estimated that 123 people working 427
hours each are needed to complete a project. What is the total
number of hours that will be spent on the project.
During each month, a local manufacturer has contracted to
build 427 sets. To find the answer, multiply the number of
hours (427) by the number of people (123).
Set up the problem by aligning the ones
places of both factors. Start your multipli-
cation with the ones digit of the multiplier.
Multiply 427 by 3 and place the answer
under the line. This answer is a partial
product.
Move on to the next digit in the multiplier
(2). Since this digit of the multiplier is in
the tens place, place a zero in the ones
column of the second partial product.
Then multiply 427 by 2.
52
3
156
23
5
5
1
23
5
115
1
427
123
1281
2
427
123
1281
8540
1
partial
product
23
Multiply by the last digit in the multiplier
(1). Since this digit of the multiplier is in
the hundreds place, place zeroes in the
ones and tens columns of the partial prod-
uct. The multiply 427 by 1.
Draw a line under the partial products and
add them. Place the sum below the second
line. This is the final product.
The answer is 52,521. The total number of hours is 52,521.
Notice that in the previous example, we didnt write down the
carried numbers. For example, when we added 8 4 12,
we wrote 2 and carried 1 in our head. This is common prac-
tice. You should have enough experience now to do the same.
When there are zeros in the multiplier. The product of
zero and any other number is zero. If a multiplier of several
digits contains one or more zeros, then one or more of the
partial products will be zero.
Example:
As you can see from this example, there are two ways of han-
dling zeros as digits of multipliers. On the left, we wrote out
all the zeros of the first partial product. Then, we aligned all
the digits of the second partial product below them. On the
right, we used a shorter method. We wrote a 0 in the ones
place of the product to hold the place. We aligned the second
partial product, 2472, below the 2 of the multiplier, but on
the same line as the 0. Both methods give the same answer,
but the one on the right is quicker and less awkward.
427
123
1281
8540
42700
427
123
1281
8 540
42 700
52 521
+
,
1236
20
24 720
,
1236
20
0000
24720
24 720
,
24
Example:
In this example, the 0 in the multiplier is in the tens place,
making the second partial product 0. On the left, we wrote
out all the zeros for the second partial product. On the right,
we used the shorter method. We placed one 0 directly below
the 0 in the multiplier to hold the place. Then, we wrote the
third partial product on the same line directly below the 4 in
the multiplier.
It really doesnt matter which method you use. You still get the
same answer. When you use the shorter method, however, you
must be very careful to line up the partial products properly
to achieve the correct answer.
Checking Your Multiplication
You can check your multiplication without learning any new
concepts. All you have to do is to apply the multiplication rule
that states, The order in which you multiply two numbers
doesnt change the product. After you complete a multiplica-
tion problem, check it by reversing the factors and performing
the multiplication again. Your answer should be the same both
times.
Example: Problem Check
Notice that the partial products are very different, but the
productthe answeris the same. Later in this study unit
youll learn how to use division to check your multiplication.
2503
402
5006
1001200
1 006 206
, ,
2503
402
5006
00000
1001200
1 006 206
, ,
123
427
861
2460
49200
52 521
,
427
123
1281
8540
42700
52 521
,
25
Calculator Applications: Multiplication
Its time to take a look at how you can perform multiplication
on your calculator. If youve conquered addition and subtrac-
tion with a calculator, you should have no problem performing
multiplication.
Before we do any multiplication on the calculator, lets review
one of the rules you learned about multiplication: The order
in which you multiply two numbers doesnt change the prod-
uct. Therefore, when you use a calculator for multiplication,
it doesnt matter which factor you enter first. Youll get the
same answer either way.
Look again at Figure 7 and find the multiplication key ().
Then find this key on your own calculator. Youre now ready
to perform multiplication on the calculator. Lets check the
example given above. Follow these steps:
1. Turn on your calculator and enter one of the factors
427. Press 4, 2, and then 7.
2. To multiply this number by another number, push the
key.
3. Enter the second factor (123) and press the = key. The
correct answer, 52,521, should appear in the window of
your calculator.
That was easy, wasnt it? Now try this same problem again but
this time enter the number 123 first. Your answers should be
the same.
Dividing Whole Numbers
Division Basics
Division is the opposite of multiplication (just as addition is
the opposite operation of subtraction). Multiplication is the
process of adding the same number several times. Division is
REMINDER
Make it a habit always to check your work. It takes a little extra time,
but it may save you from making a larger mistake down the road.
26
the process of finding how many times one number is contained
within another. In division, you separate a number into equal
parts.
Example: You have a job that should take about 48 hours to
complete. If you put 6 employees on the job, how long should
the job take?
To do this, you must divide the 48 hours among 6 employees,
which would give you 8 hours.
In a division problem, the number you divide is the dividend.
The number you divide by is the divisor. Finally, the result of
division is the quotient. In the preceding example, 48 is the
dividend, 6 is the divisor, and 8 is the quotient.
48 6 8
You probably have an idea whats coming nextthe division
tables (Figure 10). Before you feel overwhelmed by another
set of tables, consider two points. First, this is the last table
youll have to deal with. Second, division is the opposite of
multiplication. Therefore, since youve learned your multipli-
cation tables, you shouldnt find the division tables difficult.
Lets see how multiplication can help you with the division
tables. In multiplication, you have two factors and youre
looking for their product. In division, you have the product
and one factor and youre looking for the other factor.
Example: Suppose you have 36 job assignments and a crew
of four employees to complete these assignments. How many
assignments will you give each employee?
You must divide the number of assignments (36) by the number
of employees (4). To solve the division problem 36 4, you
must ask yourself what number multiplied by 4 gives 36?
The answer is 9. So,
36 4 9, because 9 4 36
Divisor
Quotient Dividend
Division
Sign
27
Figure 11 illustrates how division and multiplication function
as inverse operations. Knowing your multiplication tables
isnt the only thing that will help you learn division. The
three division rules should make your job a
little easier.
Rule 1: Zero (0) divided by any number
equals 0.
Rule 2: Any number divided by 1 is equal
to that same number.
Rule 3: Any number divided by itself
equals 1.
0 1 = 0
1 1 = 1
2 1 = 2
3 1 = 3
4 1 = 4
5 1 = 5
6 1 = 6
7 1 = 7
8 1 = 8
9 1 = 9
0 6 = 0
6 6 = 1
12 6 = 2
18 6 = 3
24 6 = 4
30 6 = 5
36 6 = 6
42 6 = 7
48 6 = 8
54 6 = 9
0 2 = 0
2 2 = 1
4 2 = 2
6 2 = 3
8 2 = 4
10 2 = 5
12 2 = 6
14 2 = 7
16 2 = 8
18 2 = 9
0 7 = 0
7 7 = 1
14 7 = 2
21 7 = 3
28 7 = 4
35 7 = 5
42 7 = 6
49 7 = 7
56 7 = 8
63 7 = 9
0 3 = 0
3 3 = 1
6 3 = 2
9 3 = 3
12 3 = 4
15 3 = 5
18 3 = 6
21 3 = 7
24 3 = 8
27 3 = 9
0 8 = 0
8 8 = 1
16 8 = 2
24 8 = 3
32 8 = 4
40 8 = 5
48 8 = 6
56 8 = 7
64 8 = 8
72 8 = 9
0 4 = 0
4 4 = 1
8 4 = 2
12 4 = 3
16 4 = 4
20 4 = 5
24 4 = 6
28 4 = 7
32 4 = 8
36 4 = 9
0 9 = 0
9 9 = 1
18 9 = 2
27 9 = 3
36 9 = 4
45 9 = 5
54 9 = 6
63 9 = 7
72 9 = 8
81 9 = 9
0 5 = 0
5 5 = 1
10 5 = 2
15 5 = 3
20 5 = 4
25 5 = 5
30 5 = 6
35 5 = 7
40 5 = 8
45 5 = 9
DIVISION TABLES
FIGURE 10Division Tables for Single-Digit Numbers
FIGURE 11Multiplication and division are
opposite operations.
28
Performing Division
When the divisor has only one digit. Division by a single-
digit number is rather easy. Lets take a look at how its done.
Example: In the next three weeks, the department your boss
manages must produce 936 electric motors. How many motors
must the department produce each week to complete the job
on time?
To calculate the answer, divide the number of motors (936)
by the number of weeks (3). Heres how you would do it:
Set up the division problem and then begin
to divide. Unlike addition, subtraction, and
multiplication, you start the division process
from the left. Therefore, you divide 3 into 9.
The result is 3. Write the 3 directly above
the 9 in the quotient.
Move on to the next number in the dividend.
Divide 3 into 3. The result is 1. Write the 1
directly above the 3.
Finally, divide the last number in the div-
idend3 divided into 6 is 2. Write the 2
directly above the 6.
The answer is 312. The department must produce 312 motors
each week.
This is a good problem to start with because everything worked
out evenly. Lets try one thats a little more difficult.
Example: Nine employees decide to chip in to buy the boss a
new briefcase for his birthday. How much will each employee
have to contribute if the briefcase costs $144?
To find the answer, you must divide the cost of the briefcase
($144) by the number of employees (9).
Set up the problem and begin to divide. The
divisor is too large to be divided into the
first digit of the dividend. Therefore, you
must use the first two digits of the divi-
dend. Estimate how many times 9 will
divide into 14. You know that 9 2 18,
but thats more than 14. Therefore, 9 divides
into 14 only once. Write 1 directly above the
4 in the tens column of the dividend.
)
3 936
3
)
3 936
31
)
3 936
312
)
9 144
1
$
29
Multiply the 1 in the quotient by the divisor
(1 9 9). Write this number as shown at
the left.
Subtract 9 from 14. Note: If the result of
this subtraction is greater than the divisor,
you know that youve estimated incorrectly.
You must increase your estimate. In this
problem, 5 is less than the divisor (9), so
you know your estimate is correct.
Now, bring down the next digit (4) from the
dividend. Estimate how many times 9 will
divide into 54. You know that 9 6 54.
So, you write a 6 above the line, directly
above the 4 in the ones column.
Multiply the 6 in the quotient by the divisor
(6 9 54). Write the answer as shown at
the left.
Finally, you subtract. Since there are no
more digits left in the dividend, youre
finished with this division problem.
The answer is $16. Each employee must contribute $16 for
the briefcase.
Follow this same division procedure no matter how many
digits there are in the dividend. Continue to bring down the
digits one at a time until you reach the last digit. Here are
some more examples for you to study:
)
9 144
9
1
$
)
9 144
9
5
1
$
)
9 144
94
54
16
$
)
9 144
94
54
54
16
$
)
9 144
94
54
54
16
$
0
)
5 3640
35
14
10
728
40
40
0
)
7 2114
21
014
14
302
0
)
9 8037
72
83
81
893
27
27
0
30
Pay particular attention to the second example. After you
subtract 21 from 21, bring down the next number (1). Since
you cant divide 7 into 1, place a zero in the quotient to hold
the place. Then bring down the next number and continue
the division.
When the divisor has more than one digit. The divisor in
a division problem often has more than one digit. You use the
same procedure for dividing that we just covered. However, you
estimate more when the divisor has more than one digit. Heres
an example.
Example: Youre at your companys credit union filling out an
application for a loan. You have to fill in your weekly salary on
the application. If your yearly salary is $23,450, how much do
you make each week? (Note: There are 52 weeks in one year.)
To calculate your weekly salary, divide your yearly salary
($23,450) by 52.
Set up the problem and begin to divide.
Ask yourself, How many times is 52 con-
tained in 2? (Two is the first digit of the
dividend.) Since 2 is smaller than 52, try
the first two digits. Is 52 contained in 23?
No. Then, try the first three digits. Is 52
contained in 234? Yes. Now, you must
estimate how many times 52 is contained
in 234. Although theres some trial and
error involved in making this estimate, you
should be able to come quite close. One
way to estimate is to drop one digit from
both the divisor and the dividend and then
ask yourself how many times 5 is con-
tained in 23. The answer is 4 and thats
our estimate. You write 4 in the quotient
directly above the 4 in the dividend.
Multiply 4 by the divisor (4 52 208)
and write 208 as shown. Subtract. Since
the result of the subtraction is less than
the divisor, you know your estimate is
correct.
)
52 23 450
4
$ ,
)
52 23 450
20 8
2 6
4
$ ,

31
Bring down the next digit from the divi-
dend. Then, estimate how many times 52
will go into 265. Since 265 is a little larger
than 234, lets estimate 5. Write 5 in the
quotient directly above 5 in the dividend.
Multiply 5 by the divisor (5 52 260).
Write 5 in the quotient and write 260 as
shown. Subtract.
Bring down the next digit from the divi-
dend. Then, estimate how many times
52 is contained in 50. The answer is 0.
Write the 0 in the quotient and your div-
ision is complete.
The answer is $450. Your weekly salary is $450. (Notice
that youve reached the last digit in the dividend and youre
left with 50. Since you cant divide 52 into 50, your division
is complete. The answer is $450, but you have a remainder
of 50.)
Checking Your Division
Since division is the inverse operation of multiplication, you
can use multiplication to check your division. To check your
answer to a division problem, multiply the quotient by the
divisor and add any remainder. The result should be the
original dividend.
Example: Lets check our division in the preceding problem.
Problem Check
Multiply the quotient
(5,725) by the divisor (6)
and add any remainder
(2). Since the result is the
same as the original divi-
dend, our work is correct.
)
52 23 450
20 8
2 65
4
$ ,
)
52 23 450
20 8
2 65
2 60
5
45
$ ,
)
52 23 450
20 8
2 65
2 60
50
450
$ ,
5725
6
34 350
2
34 352
,
,
)
6 34 352
30
4 3
4 2
15
12
32
30
2
5725
,

32
Now that you know how to divide, youve learned another way
that you can check your multiplication. You already know that
you can check multiplication by reversing the factors and
multiplying, but you can also check multiplication by using
division. You use division to check a multiplication problem
by dividing the product by one of the factors. The quotient
should equal the other factor.
Example: Last week the company you work for received five
shipments of computers. Each shipment contained 75 com-
puters. How many computers did your company receive last
week? (Find the solution and then check your answer.)
First, you must multiply the number of computers in each
shipment (75) by the number of shipments (5).
Last week your company received 375
computers. To check this answer, you
divide the product (375) by one of the
factors. Lets divide by the 5 since that
will be easier.
Since the quotient in the check, 75, is
the same as the other factor, you know
that your multiplication is correct.
Calculator Applications: Division
Performing division on a calculator is like performing sub-
traction, because you must be sure to enter the numbers in
a particular order. In division, you always enter the dividend
first.
Before you begin to divide with your calculator, look again at
Figure 7 and find the division key (). Then find this key on
your calculator. Now, lets check the division problem in the
weekly salary problem on the preceding page. Follow these
steps:
1. Turn on your calculator and enter the dividend (121940).
Press 1, 2, 1, 9, 4, 0.
2. Press the key with the division sign () on it.
3. Enter the divisor (52) and press the = key. The correct
answer, 2345, should appear in the window of your
calculator.
75
5
375
)
5 375
35
25
25
0
75

33
Now lets try a problem that involves two different operations.
Well check the average problem given above. Follow these
steps:
1. Enter the first number to be added (6127) and press the
+ key.
2. Enter the second number (5992) and press the + key.
3. Enter the third number (6221) and press the + key.
4. Enter the fourth number (3987) and press the + key.
5. Enter the fifth number (6542) and press the + key.
6. Enter the last number (5483) and press the = key.
You need to press the key to get the sum. Then the key
to divide.
7. Press the division key () and the sum of these numbers
(34,352) should appear in the window.
8. Enter 6 (the number you wish to divide by) and press
the = key.
Look at the answer in your calculator window. Because 6
doesnt divide evenly into 34,352, the calculator continued
to carry out the division. Youll have to round off this answer
to the nearest whole number. Youre going to learn about
rounding off in the next section.
Rounding Whole Numbers
Sometimes, when youre working with large, awkward numbers,
it helps to round them off. A rounded number is a close esti-
mate or approximate for a whole number. Rounding makes
numbers easier to remember. So, its often handy to round
numbers when you dont need an exact figure.
Example: Round 63 to the nearest ten.
Solution: In this problem, what youre actually trying to figure
out is whether 63 is closer to 60 or 70.
6 3 Start by finding the digit you want to round
to, and circle it. In this case, the digit in the
tens place, 6, is the one youre rounding to.
34
6 3 Now, look at the digit immediately to the
right of the circled digit. If the digit to the
right of the circled digit is 5 or greater,
increase the circled digit by 1. If the digit
is less than 5, leave the circled digit the
same.
Replace with zero In this case, the digit 3 is less than 5, so
youll round down. The circled digit will
stay the same. The last step is to change
all digits to the right of the circled digit to
zeros. In this case, youll be putting a zero
in the ones place. Answer: The number 63
rounded to the nearest ten is 60.
60
Example: Round the number 296 to the nearest hundred.
Solution: In this problem, youre trying to figure out whether
296 is closer to 200 or 300.
2 9 6 First, circle the digit you want to round
to. In this case, that digit is 2, since 2 is
in the hundreds place.
2 9 6 Now, look at the digit immediately to the
right of the 2.
Replace with zero Is the 9 greater than or less than 5? Its
greater than 5, so youll increase the cir-
cled digit by 1. Finally, change all the digits
to the right of the 3 to zeros. In this case,
youll be putting zeros in the ones and
tens places. Answer: The number 296
rounded to the nearest hundred is 300.
300
Dont forget, whether youre rounding up or rounding down, its
important to remember to replace all the digits to the right of
the rounded digit with zeros.
Example: Round each of the following numbers to the
nearest hundred.
Number Digit Being Rounded Answer
176 1 76 200
413 4 13 400
4,379 4, 3 79 4,400
35
nearest thousand.
1,346 1 ,346 1,000
3,657 3 ,657 4,000
72,357 7 2 ,357 72,000
nearest hundred thousand.
167,321 1 67,321 200,000
849,999 8 49,999 800,000
4,160,913 4, 1 60,913 4,200,000
Finding Averages
We commonly use both division and rounding to find averages.
An average is a mathematical picture of what to expect or what
is usual for a given set of circumstances. There are three types
of averages used in business: (1) the mean, (2) the median, and
(3) the mode. Each has a different use and involves a different
procedure for calculation.
The mean is the most commonly used type of average. In
fact, when people refer to the average of something, theyre
usually referring to the mean. Its most useful when there
isnt a large variation between the lowest and highest values.
Finding the mean requires more calculation than finding
other types of averages.
If youre a baseball fan, youre probably familiar with batting
averages. A players batting average doesnt tell you how well
(or poorly) a player batted on any particular day. It simply
tells you how the player has batted during the baseball sea-
son. A batting average may indicate what you can expect the
player to do in any particular game.
Lets consider a production department. During one week in
the department, everything went wrong. Several employees
were out sick, two machines broke down, and the electricity
was out for four hours. That week, production was very low.
36
The next week, the machines were repaired and working
well, no one called in sick, and there was no electrical out-
age. Production that week reached a record peak.
Neither one of those weeks is a good example of an average,
or typical, week of production. To determine average produc-
tion for this departmentthat is, to find what you can expect
the department to produce in one weekyou need to look at
several weeks. The more weeks you look at, the more accurate
will be your average.
Example: Heres a record of this production departments
output for six weeks. You must find the average number of
units produced in a week. To find the average of a group of
numbers, simply add the numbers and then divide that sum
by the number of addends.
Week Units Produced
1 6,127
2 5,992
3 6,221
4 3,987
5 6,542
6 5,483
You add to find the total number of units
produced by the department during the
six-week period.
Finally, divide the sum (34,352) by the
number of addends, or in this case, the
number of weeks (6).
The department produces an average of 5,725 units each
week.
6 127
5 992
6 221
3 987
6 542
5 483
34 352
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
)
6 34 352
30
4 3
4 2
15
12
32
30
2
5725
,

37
The rounding you learned in the previous section is important
in using your answers correctly when averaging. In averaging,
always round to the nearest sensible place value. For example,
if averaging came out to 34.25 lamps, you wouldnt sell .25
of a lamp; you would round to the nearest whole number, 34,
when setting average sales goals for the lamps. If you were set-
ting goals for average profits, which is in dollars, you would
round to the nearest penny or hundredth of a dollar.
To find the mean using your calculator, youll need to perform
two different operations.
1. Turn on your calculator. (A zero will probably appear in
the window.)
2. Enter the first of the numbers for which youre finding the
mean (in our example, the number of units produced for
the first week). Press 6, 1, 2, 7.
3. Press the + key.
4. Enter the second number for averaging (units produced
for the second week). Press 5, 9, 9, 2.
5. Press the + key.
6. Continue in this manner until youve entered all of the
numbers to be averaged. After the last one, press =.
7. The answer displayed in the window is the sum of the
group of numbers (34,352) as well as the dividend for
the next step.
8. Press the divide () key.
10. Enter the divisor, which is the number of addends. Press
6. (The number 6 should now be in the window.)
11. Press the equal key (=). This answer is the mean for this
set of data. (The answer, 5725.33333, should appear in
the window.) Because the production department only
produces whole units, the answer is rounded down to
5,725 units.
The median is the center number in a group of numbers
running from lowest to highest. This method of averaging is
used when the lowest or highest numbers are of considerably
different values than the rest of the numbers. In this case,
the median would give a more accurate expectation. Data
arrangement is the most important part of the process.
38
Consider the case of a car manufacturer with car dealerships
in a large metropolitan area. The dealership located across the
street from the companys factory sells many cars every month.
Another dealership located across the street from the compe-
titions factory sells few cars. The companys other dealerships
sell in neighborhoods where there are no car factories and all
have similar sales volumes each month. The dealerships next
to car factories arent typical dealerships and thus dont have
typical sales volumes. By looking at the median, the company
can set reasonable sales goals for their regular dealerships.
Example 1: Here are the car sales numbers for one recent
month. Find the median number of sales the company can
expect in a month from a typical dealership.
Dealership Cars Sold
A 150
B 32
C 40
D 10
E 45
F 35
G 43
Median
10 32 35 40 43 45 150
The median would be 40 cars per month. By arranging the
numbers in this way, its easy to see that some of the data is
vastly different than the rest of the data and wouldnt give a
reliable expectation of performance of the majority of dealer-
ships. The mean for this group of numbers is 50.7, not at all
typical for the regular dealerships.
39
Obviously, the median is easiest to attain for sets of data with
an odd number of items. If you have an even number of items,
though, simply find the mean of the two center numbers.
Example 2: Suppose the company decided to include one
additional dealership that was just outside the metropolitan
area, with sales of 38 cars for that same month. Granting an
even number of dealerships, find the median number of sales
the company can expect in a month.
10 32 35 38 40 43 45 150
Add the two numbers in the middle to
find the total number of sales.
Divide the total number of sales (78) by
the number of dealerships (2) for which
you need to find the mean. The median
sales for the dealerships is 39 cars.
The mode is the value that occurs the most in a particular
data set. This method of averaging is most useful when the
number of possibilities for different values is low and you
need to know what the majority of values will be. The most
important part of this process is examining the data.
Example 1: The marketing department of a satellite television
company would like to make a special offer for free service for
additional televisions in the home. By knowing the usual num-
ber of televisions per home in their target area, they can choose
the right number of free services to offer to get the most inter-
ested households. Heres the data they collected:
TVs in Household Households
1 50
2 200
3 700
4 65
5 70
)
2 78
6
18
18
39

38
40
40
The mode for this data set is 700. Most of the households in
the target area have 3 televisions. By running an advertising
campaign for free service for two additional televisions, the
company will get the most effective return on their campaign.
If more than one value occurs frequently, the highest values
are the modes.
Example 2: A school offers a series of 6 classes to bring a
student from beginner to expert. All students dont complete
all 6 classes because not all students need the highest level
of expertise for their curriculum. In planning for future
classes, the school needs to know at what point most stu-
dents are done with the series so that the school wouldnt
have to offer as many sections of subsequent classes. Here
are the numbers for a typical group of 215 students starting
in the class series:
Level Completed Non-continuing Students
1 5
2 5
3 100
4 3
5 2
6 100
In this case, because there are two highest values the data is
bimodal (has two modes). 100 students finish after level three
and 100 students finish after level 6. The school can plan to
offer just over 200 seats in the first three levels, but only a
little more than 100 for the last three levels.
Sometimes a chart of values, such as the one above, has
many, many entries, but only 3 or 4 really high values. In
these cases, there may be 3 (trimodal) or more modes.
If your data doesnt have a value that occurs more often than
another, then it doesnt have a mode.
Regardless of the kind of averaging you use for a particular set
of values, its important to know the range of those values. The
range is the difference between the lowest and highest values
youre working with. By knowing the range and looking at the
other numbers in that range as well, you can determine which
method will best work with your data. This, in turn, will give
you the kind of information you need.
41
When youre not sure whether you want the mean, the mode,
or the median, remember the following:
When using mean, you want data relatively close in
value.
If theres a large range with many different values, con-
sider calculating a median.
If most of the data has the same value, then mode is
the appropriate choice.
Before you go on to study about fractions, take some time
out now to check your progress by completing Self-Check 1.
42
Self-Check 2
Questions 140: Perform the following calculations.
1. 9. 17. 25. 5 1 = 33. 72 8 =
2. 10. 18. 26. 34. 48 6 =
3. 11. 19. 27. 35. 32 4 =
4. 12. 20. 28. 36.
5. 13. 21. 9 8 = 29. 37.
6. 14. 22. 6 7 = 30. 38.
7. 15. 23. 3 9 = 31. 24 6 = 39.
8. 16. 24. 7 0 = 32. 63 9 = 40.
41. You have four manuscripts to type. One manuscript is 12 pages long, the second is 18 pages
long, the third is 8 pages long, and the fourth is 28 pages long. How many pages in all must
you type?
__________________________________________________________
42. During the month of July, the following employees are taking vacation days:
John 6 days
Patricia 4 days
Carl 11 days
Jeffrey 9 days
How many vacation days will be taken in July?
__________________________________________________________
(Continued)
)
162 7614
)
69 13938
)
23 391
)
9 4347
)
4 248
689
236
235
16
65
21
19
4
23
3
826
637
473
384
91
79
64
31
28
13
13
6
12
5
16
7
18
9
12
8
427
+ 369
243
+ 678
98
+ 37
16
+ 73
22
+ 54
7
+ 3
5
+ 8
4
+ 9
7
+ 6
9
+ 8
43
Self-Check 2
43. Last year your company began a new safety program. The year before the program was insti-
tuted, there were 78 job-related accidents. The year the program was instituted, there were
49 job-related accidents. The number of accidents was reduced by how many?
__________________________________________________________
44. The attorney for whom you work had 249 clients last year. This year the attorney had
276 clients. How many more clients did the attorney have this year?
__________________________________________________________
45. A typist in your office is required to produce 25 error-free pages of copy each day. How many
pages must the typist produce in a five-day week?
__________________________________________________________
46. Your department is to be recarpeted. The length of the room is 9 yards and the width is
7 yards. How many square yards of carpeting are needed for the room? (To find area, or
square units, multiply length by width.)
__________________________________________________________
47. Suppose youre the administrative assistant to the president of a corporation that employs 425
people. Your boss asks you to organize all employees into groups of 25 people each, which will
meet once a month to discuss safety in the workplace. How many groups will there be?
__________________________________________________________
48. As part of your job you spend time each day contacting former customers. During one week,
you contacted 15 people on Monday, 12 on Tuesday, 14 on Wednesday, 11 on Thursday, and
13 on Friday. What is the average number of customers contacted each day? Which averaging
method did you use?
__________________________________________________________
49. A fund-raising company is putting together a student kit of candy bars for a school to use in
its annual support campaign. To maximize sales, the company will put more of the most popu-
lar candy bar sold in an average day in each kit. The companys research shows that of the
five most popular candies, local vending machines sell 100 of Candy A, 14 of Candy B, 50 of
Candy C, 6 of Candy D, and 45 of Candy E on an average day. Which candy on average is the
most popular candy? Which averaging method did you use?
__________________________________________________________
(Continued)
44
Self-Check 2
50. Round off the following numbers to the nearest hundred.
a. 618 c. 6,507
b. 472 d. 12,856
51. Round off the following numbers to the nearest ten.
a. 72 c. 165
b. 87 d. 432
52. Use a calculator to check your answers to problems 149.
45
FRACTIONS
What Is a Fraction?
The word fraction means broken. A fraction represents part of
a whole thats been broken into pieces. Fractions are written
in different ways.
1
/
4
1/4
Lets take a look at the fraction
1
/
5
(one-fifth). The top num-
ber (1) is the numerator, and the bottom number (5) is the
denominator. The denominator tells you how many equal
parts the whole unit is divided into. In the fraction
1
/
5
, the
denominator of 5 tells you that the whole has been divided
into 5 equal parts. The numerator tells you how many of
these equal parts are represented by the fraction. The frac-
tion
1
/
5
represents one of the five parts. Figure 12 graphically
represents fractions with the denominator of 5.
Kinds of Fractions
There are two kinds of fractions: proper and improper. If the
numerator of a fraction is less than its denominator, then the
fraction is less than 1 and is called a proper fraction. If the
numerator is equal to or greater than its denominator, the
fraction is an improper fraction. If the numerator of a fraction
equals its denominator, the fraction equals 1. If the numera-
tor is greater than the denominator, the fraction represents
an amount greater than 1. Proper and improper fractions are
illustrated in Figure 13.
A third type of fraction that youll encounter is a mixed
number, which consists of both a whole number and a frac-
tion, such as 1
3
/
4
.
1
4
FIGURE 12The shaded
area in each circle graphi-
cally represents the
fraction shown below it.
46
Reducing Fractions
Reducing fractions makes them easier to understand and
to work with. Take the fraction
18
/
54
as an example. Lets
reduce this fraction.
Set up the fraction and determine what
number will divide evenly into both the
numerator and the denominator. (Usually
its easiest to start with 2.)
Since 2 divides evenly into both numbers,
we now have a new equivalent fraction.
Look at the new fraction to see if you can
reduce it further. Neither number can be
divided evenly by 2, so lets try 3. Although
3 will work, theres an even larger number
that goes into both, 9.
Divide both the numerator and the denom-
inator by 9. The resulting equivalent fraction
is
1
/
3
.
The fraction
1
/
3
is much easier to understand and work with
than the fraction
18
/
54
, and yet they both stand for the same
valuethat is, they are equivalent fractions.
Here are some more examples of how to reduce fractions:
When a fraction cant be reduced any further, its said to be
in its lowest terms.
18 2
54 2
=
9
27
9
27
9 9
27 9
=
1
3
9
24
=
9 3
24 3
=
3
8
21
77
=
21 7
77 7
=
3
11
20
24
=
20 4
24 4
=
5
6
FIGURE 13Graphic Representation of Proper and Improper Fractions

18
54
47
When you solve fraction problems, youll often need to
change a fraction to an equivalent fraction with a specific
denominator. The following example illustrates these steps
for you.
Example: What fraction with a denominator of 21 is equal
to
2
/
3
?
Set up the problem as shown.
21 3 7 Divide the higher denominator (21) by the
lower one (3).
Multiply the quotient (7) by the given
numerator (2). The answer (14) is the
missing numerator of the second fraction.
Therefore, the fraction
2
/
3
is equal to
14
/
21
.
Changing Improper Fractions
to Mixed Numbers
An improper fraction is one in which the numerator is larger
than the denominatorfor example,
64
/
7
. To change such a
fraction into a mixed number, (a whole number, and a frac-
tion), simply treat the fraction like a division problem. The
fraction
64
/
7
is the same as 64 7.
The following example illustrates how to change an improper
fraction to a mixed number:
Example: Change the improper fraction
64
/
7
to a mixed
number.
Set up the fraction as a division problem.
Carry out the division.
Write the quotient (9) as the whole number
part of your answer. Write the remainder (1)
as the numerator of the fraction part of
your answer. Write the divisor (7) as the
denominator of the fraction part. Your
answer is 9
1
/
7
.
2
3
=
?
21
7
14
21
2
3
=
)
7 64
)
7 64
63
1
9
9
1
7
48
Changing Mixed Numbers to
Improper Fractions
Youre now going to learn how to reverse the procedure you
just used to change a mixed number to an improper fraction.
To do so, youll use multiplication, which makes sense since
multiplication is the opposite of division.
To see how its done, lets use the example from the previous
section.
Example: Change 9
1
/
7
to an improper fraction.
7 9 63 Multiply the denominator of the fraction
(7) by the whole number (9).
63 1 64 Add the numerator of the fraction to the
product obtained in the preceding step.
Place the sum (64) over the denominator
of the fraction (7). The answer is
64
/
7
.
Adding and Subtracting Fractions
Like Fractions
Fractions that have the same denominator are like fractions.
For example, the fractions
2
/
9
,
4
/
9
,
5
/
9
, and
7
/
9
are like frac-
tions because they all have a denominator of 9. Adding and
subtracting like fractions is easy. Just follow these three steps:
1. Add or subtract the numerators. The result is the numer-
ator of your answer. The denominator remains the same.
2. If the answer is an improper fraction, change it to a mixed
number.
3. Reduce the fraction part of your answer to its lowest
terms.
Example: Add the fractions
3
/
8
and
1
/
8
.
Add the numerators. The sum is the num-
erator of your answer. The denominator
remains the same. The answer isnt an
improper fraction so it cant be changed
to a mixed number.
64
7
3
8
1
8
4
8
=
49
Reduce the fraction to its lowest form.
The answer is
1
/
2
.
Example: Subtract
7
/
16
from
13
/
16
.
Subtract the numerators. The difference is
the numerator of your answer. The denom-
inator remains the same.
Reduce the fraction to its lowest terms.
The answer is
3
/
8
.
Example: Add the fractions
7
/
8
and
5
/
8
.
Add the numerators. The sum is the num-
erator of your answer. The denominator
remains the same.
Since the answer is an improper fraction,
change it to a mixed number.
Reduce the fraction to its lowest terms.
The answer is 1
1
/
2
.
Unlike Fractions
Fractions with different denominators are unlike fractions. For
example, the fractions
1
/
2
,
3
/
4
,
5
/
8
, and
7
/
10
are unlike frac-
tions because their denominators are different. To add and
subtract unlike fractions, you must first change the fractions
so that all have the same denominator. The denominator should
be the lowest common denominator (LCD), which is the small-
est number that can be divided (without a remainder) by all
of the denominators.
One way to find the lowest common denominator is to con-
sider using the denominator of the fraction with the largest
denominator.
Example: Find the lowest common denominator for the
fractions
1
/
2
,
1
/
4
, and
3
/
8
.
4
8
4
4
1
2
=
13
16
7
16
6
16
=
6
16
2
2
3
8
=
7
8
5
8
12
8
=
12
8
1
4
8
=
1
4 4
8 4
1
1
2
=
50
Look at the fraction with the largest
denominator (8). Ask yourself if the other
denominators (2 and 4) can be evenly
divided into that denominator.
Since both 2 and 4 can be evenly divided
into 8, the lowest common denominator
is 8.
Change the other fractions into equivalent
fractions with a denominator of 8. Now all
the fractions have the same denominator.
You may find that the largest denominator in the group isnt
the lowest common denominator.
Example: Find the lowest common denominator for the
fractions
3
/
4
,
2
/
5
, and
1
/
10
.
Look at the fraction with the largest de-
nominator (10). Ask yourself if the other
denominators (4 and 5) can be evenly
divided into that denominator.
Although 5 can be divided evenly into 10,
the denominator 4 cant be. Therefore, we
must go to a higher number to find the
lowest common denominator.
2 10 20 Multiply the largest denominator by 2 and
ask yourself again if the other denomina-
tors (4 and 5) can be evenly divided into
the denominator. Since both 4 and 5 can
be evenly divided into 20, you know that
the lowest common denominator is 20.
Change all fractions to equivalent fractions
with a denominator of 20.
If this process doesnt work, try multiplying the largest denom-
inator by 3, then 4, and so on until you reach a number that
can be evenly divided by all denominators in the group.
1
2
1
4
3
8
1
2
1
4
3
8
1
2
4
8
1
4
2
8
= =
3
4
2
5
1
10
3
4
2
5
1
10
3 5
4 5
15
20
=
2 4
5 4
8
20
=
1 2
10 2
2
20
=
51
Example: If you worked
1
/
2
hr (hour) overtime on Monday
and
3
/
4
hr overtime on Tuesday, how many hours overtime
did you work in the two days together?
To find the answer, you add the fractions
1
/
2
and
3
/
4
.
Since the fractions are unlike fractions, you
must find the lowest common denominator.
In this case the lowest common denomina-
tor is 4 because 2 can be divided evenly
into 4.
Change the fraction
1
/
2
to an equivalent
fraction with a denominator of 4.
Add the fractions as you did for like
fractions.
change it to a mixed number. The fraction
is already in its lowest form.
The answer is 1
1
/
4
. You worked 1
1
/
4
hr in the two days.
Example: Subtract
3
/
32
from
7
/
8
.
Since the fractions are unlike fractions, you
must find the lowest common denominator.
In this case its 32.
Change the fraction
7
/
8
to an equivalent
fraction with a denominator of 32.
Subtract the fractions as you did for like
fractions.
The answer is
25
/
32
.
Mixed Numbers
As youll recall, a mixed number is a combination of both
a whole number and a fraction. For example, 2
3
/
4
, 6
1
/
2
,
22
9
/
17
, and 65
1
/
8
are mixed numbers. At times, you may be
required to either add or subtract mixed numbers. Lets look
at how you would do this.
1
2
3
4
1
2
2
2
2
4
=
2
4
3
4
5
4
=
5
4
1
1
4
=
7
8
3
32
7
8
28
32
28
32
3
32
25
32
=
52
Example: On Monday you worked 3
1
/
2
hr, and on Tuesday
you worked 4
3
/
4
hr. How many hours did you work all
together? To find the answer, you must add together the
mixed numbers 3
1
/
2
and 4
3
/
4
.
Set up the problem as you would any
addition problem.
Change the fractions so they have a com-
mon denominator.
Add the fractions.
Add the whole numbers. The answer is
7
5
/
4
. Notice that the fraction part of this
mixed number is an improper fraction
that is, its greater than 1.
5
/
4
= 1
1
/
4
Change the fraction to a mixed number.
Add this mixed number to the whole
number in your original answer.
The final answer is 8
1
/
4
. You worked a total of 8
1
/
4
hr on
Monday and Thursday.
Now lets look at a subtraction problem involving mixed
numbers.
Example: The stock of a company was valued at 8
1
/
4
on
Monday morning. On Friday afternoon the same stock was
valued at 6
5
/
8
. How much did the price of the stock decrease
during that week? To find the answer, you must subtract 6
5
/
8
from 8
1
/
4
.
Set up the problem as you would any
subtraction problem.
Change the fractions so they have a
common denominator.
3
4
1
2
3
4
+
3 3
4 4
1
2
2
4
3
4
3
4
=
+ = +
3
4
2
4
3
4
5
4
+
3
4
7
2
4
3
4
5
4
+
7
1
8
1
4
1
4
+
8
6
1
4
5
8
8 8
6 6
1
4
2
8
5
8
5
8
=
=
53
Subtract the fractions first. Since you cant
subtract
5
/
8
from
2
/
8
, you must borrow 1
from the whole number.
Cross off the 8 and change it to a 7.
Change the whole number 1 to a fraction
with a denominator of 8 (1
8
/
8
). Add
this to the fraction part of the minuend
(
8
/
8
+
2
/
8
=
10
/
8
).
Now subtract the fractions
(
10
/
8

5
/
8
=
5
/
8
).
Finally, subtract the whole numbers.
The answer is 1
5
/
8
. The price of the stock fell 1
5
/
8
in one
week.
Multiplying Fractions
Youll be pleased to discover that multiplying fractions is
much easier and faster than adding or subtracting them.
This is because you can multiply both like and unlike frac-
tions without changing their denominators.
To multiply one fraction by another, follow these steps:
1. Multiply the numerators and make the product the
numerator of the answer.
2. Multiply the denominators and make the product the
denominator of the answer.
3. Simplify the answer if necessary.
Example: Multiply
3
/
4
by
2
/
3
.
Multiply the numerators and make the
product the numerator of the answer.
Multiply the denominators and make the
product the denominator of the answer.

8
6
2
8
5
8
8
6
7
2
8
5
8
10
8
8
6
7
2
8
5
8
5
8
10
8
8
6
1
7
2
8
5
8
5
8
10
8
3
4
2
3
6
=
3
4
2
3
6
12
=
54
Reduce the answer.
The answer is
1
/
2
.
That was easy, wasnt it? And the same procedure is followed
no matter what kinds of fractions are involved.
Multiplying Fractions by Whole Numbers
Every whole number can be considered a fraction by placing it
over the number 1. For example, 5 =
5
/
1
, 12 =
12
/
1
, 432 =
432
/
1
.
Therefore, to multiply any fraction by a whole number, sim-
ply convert the whole number to a fraction and use the
multiplication rules you just learned.
Example: You worked
3
/
8
hour overtime three days in a
row. How much overtime did you work all together?
To find the answer, multiply
3
/
8
by 3.
Convert the whole number to a fraction by
placing it over 1.
Multiply as usual.
change it to a mixed number.
The answer is 1
1
/
8
. You worked 1
1
/
8
hour overtime.
6 6
12 6
1
2
=
3
8
3
1
3
8
3
1
9
8
=
9
8
1
1
8
=
55
Multiplying Mixed Numbers
If a mixed number is part of any multiplication problem, sim-
ply change it to an improper fraction and use the procedures
youve just learned for multiplying fractions.
Example: Multiply 3
3
/
5
by 2
3
/
8
.
Change each of the mixed numbers to
improper fractions.
3
3
5
18
5
=
2
3
8
19
8
=
CANCELLATION: A MULTIPLICATION SHORTCUT
When you multiply fractions, you can use the cancellation methoda shortcut way to arrive at the
correct answer. Remember that cancellation works only for multiplication. Never try cancellation
when you add or subtract fractions. Heres how it works:
Example:
What is the product of
3
/
4
,
7
/
8
, and
2
/
3
?
Solution 1: Lets find the answer the way youve already learned.
Multiply the numerators and make the product the numerator of
the answer.
Multiply the denominators and make the product the denominator
of the answer.
Reduce the answer to its lowest terms.
Solution 2: Now lets find the answer by cancellation.
First cross off any pairs of identical numbers that appear in both
the numerator and denominator. Replace these with 1s.
Divide any numerator and denominator by the same number. In
this case well divide the 2 in the numerator and the 8 in the
denominator by 2.
Now multiply as usual. You come up with the same answer, but
now you dont have to reduce it.
Important: When you use cancellation, remember to cancel in pairs. Cancel one numerator and
then one denominator. You cant cancel numerator to numerator or denominator to denominator.
3
4
7
8
2
3
=
7
16
1
4
1
1

3
4
7
8
2
3
=
1
4
1
1

3
4
7
8
2
3
=
1
1

42 6
96 6
=
7
16
3
4
7
8
2
3
=
42
96

3
4
7
8
2
3
=
42

56
Set up the multiplication problem and use
cancellation if possible.
Multiply as usual.
Change the improper fraction to a mixed
number.
The answer is 8
11
/
20
.
Dividing Fractions
Dividing fractions is almost as easy as multiplying fractions.
Here are the two steps for dividing fractions.
1. Invert (turn over) the divisor, the second number, and
change the division sign to a multiplication sign.
2. Multiply as usual.
Example: Divide
5
/
8
by
1
/
16
.
Set up the problem.
Invert the divisor and change it to a
multiplication problem.
Use cancellation and then multiply.
The answer is 10.
Dividing Fractions by Whole Numbers
Suppose you must divide a measurement of
15
/
16
in. into
three equal sections. What will be the length of each section?
18
5
19
8
18
5
19
8
171
20
9
4
=
171
20
8
11
20
=
5
8
1
16
5
8
16
1
5
8
16
1
10
1
10
1
2
= =
57
To find the answer, you divide
15
/
16
by 3.
Change the whole number to an improper
fraction by placing it over 1.
Use cancellation. Divide 3 into one
numerator and one denominator.
Multiply as usual.
The answer is
5
/
16
. Each section will be
5
/
16
in. long.
Dividing Whole Numbers by Fractions
The following practical problem will show you how to divide a
fraction into a whole number.
Example: It takes you approximately
2
/
5
hr to complete a
client profile. If you have 10 hr of work left in a week, how
many profiles can you do?
To solve this problem, you determine the number of times
2
/
5
goes into 10.
Change the whole number 10 to an
improper fraction by placing it over 1.
multiplication problem
Use cancellation.
Multiply as usual.
15
16
3
1
15
16
1
3
15
16
1
3
5
1
5
16
1
1
5
16
=
10
1
2
5
10
1
5
2
10
1
5
2
5
1
5
1
5
1
25
1
=
58
Change the improper fraction in the
answer to a whole number.
The answer is 25. You can complete 25 client profiles.
Dividing Mixed Numbers
As in multiplication, you must change mixed numbers to
improper fractions in order to divide them.
Example: What is 6
1
/
9
2
1
/
7
?
Change each of the mixed numbers to
improper fractions.
Set up the division problem.
Cancel if possible.
Multiply as usual.
Change the improper fraction to a mixed
number.
The answer is 2
23
/
27
.
77
27
2
23
27
=
11
9
7
3
77
27
=
55
9
7
15
11
3
55
9
7
15
55
9
15
7
2
1
7
15
7
=
6
1
9
55
9
=
25
1
25 =
59
Self-Check 3
Match the terms in the left-hand column with the examples given in the right-hand column.
______ 1. numerator
______ 2. denominator
______ 3. like fractions
______ 4. unlike proper fractions
______ 5. improper fractions
______ 6. equivalent fractions
______ 7. mixed number
8. Solve the following problems involving fractions.
a.
3
/
6
+
2
/
6
____________________________________________________________
b. 1
1
/
5
+ 2
3
/
10
________________________________________________________
c.
9
/
11

7
/
11
____________________________________________________________
d. 3
11
/
20
1
4
/
5
________________________________________________________
e.
1
/
2
1
/
3
____________________________________________________________
f. 3
5
/
6
______________________________________________________________
g.
3
/
10
6
/
10
____________________________________________________________
h.
5
/
9
3 ______________________________________________________________
i. 1
1
/
2
1
1
/
3
__________________________________________________________
j. 2
1
/
2
5
/
8
__________________________________________________________
9. Your shop employs seven people. Today two people are sick. What fraction represents the
employees who are sick?
__________________________________________________________
10. Nadine walked
1
/
4
mile and Janet walked
3
/
8
mile. Who walked farther and by how much?
(Hint: First change the fractions so that their denominators are the same.)
__________________________________________________________
11. On the morning of June 4, the stock of Nagasaki Corporation opened at a price of $33
1
/
8
per
share. At the end of the day, the price had risen $4
1
/
4
per share. What was the price at the
end of the day?
__________________________________________________________
(Continued)
a.
1
/
9
,
5
/
9
,
11
/
9
b.
1
/
3
c.
3
/
2
,
7
/
3
,
12
/
9
d. 1
3
/
4
e.
1
/
3
,
1
/
4
,
2
/
5
f.
5
/
6
g.
1
/
2
,
4
/
8
,
8
/
16
60
Self-Check 3
12. In your office,
1
/
4
of the 24 employees eat lunch daily at a restaurant. How many employees
eat at a restaurant?
__________________________________________________________
13. A carpet installer needs to calculate the amount of carpet needed to cover a floor thats 3
1
/
2
yards wide and 4
3
/
4
yards long. What is the area of the floor? How many square yards of
carpeting are needed? (Area = length width.) (Hint: First change both mixed numbers to
improper fractions.)
__________________________________________________________
14. The Omicron Model 99 television costs $450. During a special sale, its marked
1
/
3
off. How
much money will you save buying this TV on sale?
__________________________________________________________
15. A motor club has estimated that a 325-mile car trip will take 6
1
/
2
hr. What is the club
assuming to be the average speed (miles per hour)? (Hint: Change the mixed number
6
1
/
2
to an improper fraction.)
__________________________________________________________
61
DECIMALS
The Importance of Decimals
Decimals are very useful in daily life. Accountants, for example,
deal with decimals all the time when adding and subtracting
columns of dollars and cents and when calculating taxes.
Engineers also use decimals to calculate distances, angles,
and dimensions. Retailers and clerks use decimals when
marking or changing prices. Stockbrokers work with decimals
to determine how much stocks and bonds have gone up or
down. Bankers use decimals to calculate mortgage rates, car
loans, and the interest earned on savings accounts. So you
can see, its important to know what decimals are and how
to use them.
Decimal Defined
A proper fraction is one way to express an amount less than
a whole. For example,
1
/
3
is less than
3
/
3
that is,
1
/
3
is less
than 1. Likewise,
2
/
5
is less than
5
/
5
;
2
/
5
is less than 1. A
decimal is another way of writing a number that is less than 1.
In other words, a decimal is another way of writing a proper
fraction. A decimal point (.) indicates the beginning of a decimal.
Place Values of Whole
Numbers and Decimals
From your study of whole numbers, youll recall that each
digit represents a place value. Each place value in a whole
number represents a quantity thats 10 times greater than
the place value to its right. Decimals, too, have place values,
as you can see in Figure 14. As shown, the digits to the left of
the decimal point represent a whole number; the digits to the
right of the decimal point represent a decimal, or a number
less than 1.
62
Adding and Subtracting Decimals
If you know how to add and subtract whole numbers, then
you should have no difficulty with decimals since the same
rules apply. When adding or subtracting decimals, however,
you must make sure to line up the decimal points. Here are
the steps for adding or subtracting any combination of whole
numbers, decimals, and mixed decimals (whole numbers and
decimals combined).
Step 1: Write the numbers to be added or subtracted so
that the decimal points are in a line one under the
other. (The decimal point in a whole number is at
the end of the number.)
Step 2: If necessary, add zeroes to the right so that all
decimals have the same number of place values.
Step 3: Add or subtract the decimals just as you would add
whole numbers, carrying and borrowing as usual.
Step 4: Place the decimal point in the answer directly below
the decimal points in the problem itself.
Study the following examples to be sure you understand how
to add and subtract numbers containing decimals.
FIGURE 14Place Values of Whole Numbers and Decimals
63
Multiplying Decimals
There may be times when youll multiply any of the following
combinations:
Two decimals
Two mixed decimals
A whole number and a decimal
A mixed decimal and a decimal
Whatever combination of numbers youre working with, the
multiplication process remains the same. You just have to
learn how to handle the decimal point in the answer.
Example: If you work 7.5 hrs every day, how many hours do
you work in a normal five-day week?
To find the answer, multiply 7.5 by 5.
Set up the problem and perform the mul-
tiplication. Then, to determine where you
place the decimal point, count the total
number of decimal places (digits to the
right of the decimal point) in both factors.
Theres one decimal place in the multipli-
cand and none in the multiplier.
You start at the far right of the answer
and count off the total number of decimal
places (in this case only one). Place the
decimal point where you complete your
counting.
In a five-day week, you would work 37.5 hrs.
7.5
5
375
2
7.5
5
37.5
2
2. 2 . 0 0
1.89 1. 8 9
0. 1 1
1 9 10

$89.98
39.45
24.98
154.41
2 2 2
3. 3.000
0.689 0.689
3.689

$ 2 0 . 0 0
1 6 . 4 8
3 . 5 2
1 9 9 10
.671 .671
.56 .560
.111

0.56 0.560
0.671 0. 6 71
1. 2 31
1

64
Example: What is 2.58 .25?
Set up the problem and perform the multi-
plication as you would for whole numbers,
ignoring the decimal points at first.
Count the total number of decimal places
in both factors. Count off the total number
of decimal places in the answer. Place the
decimal point where you complete your
counting.
The answer is .6450.
In some cases there wont be enough places in the answer for
you to correctly place the decimal point. In such cases, youll
add one or more zeros in front of the answer.
Example: What is .45 .17?
Set up the problem and perform the mul-
tiplication. Count the number of decimal
places in both factors (2 in the multipli-
cand plus 2 in the multiplier 4). The
answer must have four decimal places.
Since the answer has only three places,
you must add a zero before the answer,
as shown.
The final answer is .0765.
Multiplication problems involving money work the same way.
We often write money as a decimal number or a mixed decimal
number. We represent money by dollars and cents. The cents
part usually has only two decimal places, as in $0.75, $35.12,
and $162.50. When you multiply an amount of money by a
decimal, you still must count the decimal places in both factors
to determine the placement of the decimal point.
Example: A carpenter needs 85.5 ft. (feet) of molding for one
room. If the molding costs $.58 per foot, how much will the
molding for the room cost?
2.58
.25
1290
+5160
6450
2.58
.25
1290
+5160
.6450
.45
.17
315
450
.0765
.45
.17
315
450
765

65
Set up the problem and multiply as you
would for whole numbers.
Count the number of decimal places in
both factors and count off the places in
the answer.
The molding for the room will cost $49.590, or $49.59.
(Remember, a zero at the end of a decimal doesnt change
the value of the decimal.)
Dividing Decimals
When the Dividend Is a Decimal
When the dividend of a division problem is a decimal or a
mixed decimal, you use the same procedure for dividing as
you did previously. Before you begin to divide, however, you
must place the decimal point in the quotient. The rule you
use for placing the decimal point in a quotient is place the
decimal point of the quotient directly above the decimal point
of the dividend.
Example: Suppose the price of pens is five for $2.00. To
calculate the cost of one pen, you must divide $2.00 by 5.
Set up the problem. Before you begin
to divide, place the decimal point in the
quotient directly above the one in the
dividend.
Perform the division as you would for
whole numbers.
The answer is $.40, the cost of one pen.
85.5
.58
6840
42750
49.590
$
)
5 $2.00
20
0 0
.40
85.5
.58
6840
42750
49590
)
5 $2.00
.
66
Example: Divide .25 by 5.
In this problem, youll need to use a zero
as a place holder.
This example shows the importance of placing the decimal
point in the quotient before you perform any division. You
must fill the space between the decimal point and the 5. So,
you add a zero as a place holder.
When the Divisor Is a Decimal
In all the problems you had so far, the divisor has been a
whole number. When the divisor is a decimal (or a mixed
decimal), you must change it to a whole number before you
begin to divide. Here are steps to follow when dividing by a
decimal:
Step 1: Set up the numbers just as you would for dividing
whole numbers.
Step 2: Move the decimal point in the divisor so that its at
the far right of the divisor. (This makes the divisor
a whole number.)
Step 3: Count the number of places that you moved the
decimal point in the divisor.
Step 4: Move the decimal point in the dividend the same
number of places to the right. Mark this spot with
a caret (^).
Step 5: Place the decimal point in the quotient directly
above the caret.
Step 6: Divide as you would for whole numbers.
)
5 $.25
25
0
.05
IMPORTANT
Always move the decimal point the same number of places in both
the divisor and the dividend.
67
Example: Divide 102 by 4.25.
Set up the numbers as you would for any
other division problem.
Move the decimal point in the divisor so
that its at the end of the divisor. In this
case, move the decimal two places to the
right.
Move the decimal point in the dividend the
same number of places. (Note: The decimal
point in a whole number is at the far right
of that number. When you move the deci-
mal point to the right in a whole number,
you add zeros as place holders.) Mark this
spot with a caret (^).
Place the decimal point in the quotient
directly above the caret.
Then, divide as you would for whole
numbers.
The answer is 24.
Rounding Off Quotients
The division problems you solve wont always result in an
even quotient. The answer may have a remainder and the
quotient will, therefore, be approximate.
Example: Suppose you must divide 104 by 4.25.
Notice, when you complete the division,
youre left with a remainder of 200.
)
425. 10400.
850
1900
1700
0
24.
20
)
425. 10200.
850
1700
1700
0
24.
)
425. 10200.
.
)
425. 10200.
)
425. 102
)
4.25 102
68
If you wish, you can continue the division beyond the deci-
mal point. The more digits an approximate number has, the
more accurate it is. However, since some division could go on
indefinitely, we set a limit on the number of decimal places in
an approximate number. Lets say you want to carry this out
so that its accurate to two decimal places. Heres how you
would do it:
Set up the problem and perform the
division as you did before.
Add three zeros after the decimal point
and bring down the first zero.
You always carry out your division to one decimal place beyond
the desired number. In this case, you want your answer to be
accurate to two decimal places, so you carry out the division
to three decimal places. Now youll round off the decimal to
two places.
Here are the steps you follow to round off a number:
Step 1: Find the digit you want to round to. (It may help if
you circle this digit.)
Step 2: Look at the digit immediately to the right of the
circled digit.
)
425. 10400.000
850
1900
1700
00
1700
3000
2975
250
24.
20
)
425. 10400.000
850
1900
1700
00
24.
20
)
425. 10400.
850
1900
1700
0
24.
20
69
Step 3: If the digit to the right is 5 or more, then round up
by increasing the circled digit by 1. If the digit to the
right is less than 5, you round downyou dont
change the circled digit.
Step 4: Drop all digits (including zeros) to the right of the
rounded digit.
Example: Lets round off the following answer to the nearest
hundredths (two decimal places).
24.4 7 0 Find the digit you want to round to and
circle it. In this case, you round to the
nearest hundredth. Since 7 is in the
hundredths place, you circle it.
24.470 Next, look at the digit to the right of the
circled digit. The digit is 0.
24.470 Since 0 is less than 5, you round down
dont change the circled digit.
24.47 Finally, drop all digits to the right of the
rounded number.
The answer rounded to the nearest hundredth is 24.47.
Example: Round .853 to the nearest tenth.
.8 53 First, circle the digit in the tenths place.
.8 53 Next, look at the digit to the right of the
circled digit.
.953 Since the digit to the right of the circled
digit is 5, round up by increasing the
circled digit by 1.
.9 Then, drop all digits to the right of the
rounded number. The answer is .9.
Calculator Applications: Decimals
You can use your calculator to perform addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division with decimals. The only difference
is that you must remember to key in the decimal point. Look
again at Figure 7 and find the decimal point key. Then find
this key on your own calculator.
00
70
Lets look at two examples involving decimals. First lets cal-
culate the figures from the example given previously under
Multiplying Decimals. Follow these steps:
1. Turn on the calculator and enter the first number (85.5).
To do this, press 8, 5, decimal point, 5.
2. Press the key.
3. Enter the second number. Press decimal point, 5, 8.
4. Press the = key. The correct answer, 49.59, should be
displayed in the window.
Notice that the calculator put the decimal point in the correct
place for you. All you have to do is add the dollar sign. Now
lets look at the example given above in the section on divid-
ing decimals. Divide 102 by 4.25.
Remember that in division you must enter the dividend first.
1. Turn on the calculator (or clear the previous calculation
by pressing the clear key).
2. Enter the dividend (102).
3. Press the key.
4. Enter the divisor. Press 4, decimal point, 2, 5.
5. Press the = key. The window should display the answer
24.
If a division problem doesnt come out evenly, your calculator
will continue to divide until the window is full. When this
occurs, simply round off your answer to the correct number
of decimal places. For example, use your calculator to solve
the problem 639 7. The answer is 91.285714. If you wish
to round off your answer to two decimal places, the answer
would be 91.29. The advantage to having the calculator carry
out the division to a large number of decimal places is that
your answer is very accurate.
When using a calculator to add or subtract decimals, follow
the same procedure as you did for whole numbers. Just
remember to key in the decimal point at the correct place.
Before you go on, try adding and subtracting a few decimals.
71
Self-Check 4
1. Add the following numbers.
a. b. c. d.
2. Add the following numbers.
a. b. c. d.
Complete the following problems involving decimals.
3. A stockholder owns 381.881 shares. By the end of the year, he had increased his number of
shares by 14.814. What is the the total of shares owned by the stockholder? _______
4. Last week a sales representative earned a salary of $412.56 and a commission of $72.48.
How much did she earn in all? _______
5. Joan deposited a check for $48.51 in her checking account. If the previous balance was
$381.49, how much money does Joan now have in the account? _______
6. Complete the following subtraction problems.
a. b. c. d.
e. f. g. h.
7. How much change should a customer get back on a $35.17 purchase if she pays with a $50
bill? _______
8. The U.S. Census found that the population per square mile in the state rose from 128.7
to 191.3 during the last 10 years. By how much did the population grow per square mile?
_______
(Continued)
$156.25
83.73
$4.47
1.18
$6.52
2.37
$6.50
1.88
3.76
2.9
38.9
9.2
6.213
1.8219
9.5
3.2
43.
2.386
+ 3.74
0.952
1.57
+ 0.803
13.46
5.003
+ 0.0321
12.8
27.38
+ 0.562
$506.78
790.99
867.70
+ 897.09
$89.98
78.67
99.68
+ 67.89
$404.99
75.01
405.44
+ 40.86
$11.23
23.25
31.24
+ 45.42
72
Self-Check 4
9. Complete the following multiplication problems.
a. b. c. d.
10. In a country where prices are rising quickly, bread that now costs $2.39 will cost 2.4 times as
much next year. How much will the bread cost next year? (Round your answer to the nearest
cent.)
__________________________________________________________
11. Jan can type 61.3 words per minute. How many words can she type during a 15-minute test?
__________________________________________________________
12. Divide, rounding the answers to the nearest hundredth (two decimal places).
a. 0.61 0.57 _______
b. 7.8 25 _______
c. 492 2.3 _______
d. 74.3 3.8 _______
e. 62.4 0.47 _______
f. 7.13 0.99 _______
13. A magazine has a special offer of 18 issues for $28.44. How much does each issue cost?
__________________________________________________________
14. Bently Manufacturing Company wants to rent a private club for its annual dance. The total
cost will be $5,062.50. If the committee charges $40.50 per couple, how many couples need
to attend in order to cover the cost?
__________________________________________________________
15. Use your calculator to check your answers to problems 114.
53.67
0.056
0.09
0.02
5.931
7
0.34
6
73
PERCENTAGE
Percentage in Business
The word percent is used so frequently in everyday life that
youre no doubt already familiar with its meaning. You must
also be able to handle calculations dealing with percentages.
Such calculations are needed to express profits, losses, depre-
ciation, discounts, and many other business operations. Percent
is a shortened form of the Latin words per centum, meaning by
the hundred. The sign for percent is %. Thus, 2% is read two
percent.
Working with Percentages
Before you begin to solve problems that involve percentages,
you must be able to change percentages to decimals and frac-
tions, and you must be able to change decimals and fractions
to percentages. Lets take a look at how these operations are
performed.
Changing Percentages to Decimals
To change any percentage to a decimal follow these steps:
Step 1: Drop the percentage sign.
Step 2: Move the decimal point two places to the left. Add
zeroes as placeholders if necessary.
Example: Change each percentage to a decimal.
Percent Drop the Move the Equivalent
Percent Sign Decimal Point Decimal
45% 45 45. .45
1% 1 01. .01
31.5% 31.5 31.5 .315
150% 150 150. 1.5
74
Changing Decimals to Percentages
Youve just learned how to change a percentage to a decimal.
Now, youll learn how to do the reverse process. To change
any decimal or mixed decimal to a percentage, follow these
steps:
Step 1: Move the decimal point two places to the right,
adding zeroes as placeholders if necessary.
Step 2: Add a percentage sign.
Note: These steps are just the reverse of the steps for chang-
ing a percent to a decimal.
Example: Change each decimal or mixed decimal to a
percentage.
Decimal Move the Decimal Point Add the % Sign
.85 .85 85%
.356 .35 6 35.6%
.039 .03 9 3.9%
7.3 7.30 730%
Changing Percentages to Fractions
To change any percentage to a fraction or a mixed number,
follow these steps:
Step 1: Drop the percentage sign.
Step 2: Use the number as the numerator of the fraction.
The denominator is always 100.
Step 3: Reduce the fraction to its simplest form, if necessary.
Example: Change 48% to a fraction.
48 Drop the percentage symbol.
Use the number 48 as the numerator of
the fraction, and make the denominator
100.
Reduce the fraction. Answer: 48% equals
the fraction
12
/
25
.
48
100
48
100
4
4
=
12
25

75
Example: Change 175% to a mixed number.
175 Drop the percentage symbol.
Use the number 175 as the numerator and
make the denominator 100.
Reduce the fraction. Answer: 175% equals
the mixed number 1
3
/
4
.
Changing Fractions to Percentages
So far, so good! Now, what if you want to change a fraction to
a percentage? Here are the steps you should follow:
Step 1: If the given number is a mixed number, change it
to an improper fraction. Otherwise, go directly to
Step 2.
Step 2: Divide the numerator of the fraction by the denomi-
nator. This will change the fraction to a decimal.
Step 3: To change the resulting decimal to a percentage,
move the decimal point two places to the right.
Step 4: Add the percentage sign.
Example: Change
1
/
4
to a percentage.
Divide the numerator (1) by the denom-
inator (4).
.25 Move the decimal point two places to the
right.
25% Add a percentage sign. Answer: The frac-
tion
1
/
4
equals 25%.
Example: Change
3
/
8
to a percentage.
Divide the numerator by the denominator.
)
4 1.00
8
20
20
0
.25
175
100
25
25
=
7
4
=1
3
4
175
100
)
8 3.000
2 4
60
56
40
40
0
.375

76
.375 Move the decimal point two places to the
right.
37.5% Add a percentage sign. Answer: The
fraction
3
/
8
equals 37.5%.
Example: Change the mixed number 4
1
/
2
to a percentage.
Change 4
1
/
2
to an improper fraction.
Then, divide the numerator (9) by the
denominator (2).
4.50 Move the decimal point two places to the
right. Youll need to use a zero as a
placeholder.
450% Add a percentage sign. Answer: The mixed
number 4
1
/
2
equals 450%.
The Vocabulary of Percentages
Most percentage problems involve three numbersthe rate,
the base, and the percentage. The connection between these
numbers can be expressed in an equation, or formula, as
R B P
The R in this equation stands for the rate, the B for the base,
and the P for the percentage. Lets take a closer look at each
of these terms.
Rate. In percentage problems, the rate is expressed either by
the word percent or by the symbol %. Therefore, the rate is
usually very easy to identify in a problem. For example, sup-
pose youre told that 6% sales tax is charged on a purchase.
The rate is 6%.
Base. The term base refers to the whole amount to which the
rate is applied. The base most often follows the word of. For
example, if a problem asks you to find 25% of 60, the num-
ber 60 is the base.
)
2 9.0
8
1 0
1 0
0
4.5
4
1
2
=
9
2
77
Percentage. The percentage is the part of the base, or part
of the whole, that youre often asked to calculate. Its the
number that results from multiplying the base by the rate.
In almost all percentage problems, youll be given two of the
three numbers (rate, base, or percentage) and asked to find
the unknown third number. For example, if youre given the
rate and the base, you must find the percent-
age. If youre given the percentage and the
base, you must find the rate.
Depending on what number you need to
find, youll use a certain arrangement of the
formula R B P. Figure 15 contains the
three arrangements of the formula youll
need to solve percentage problems.
Solving Percentage Problems
Lets take a look at three different examples that illustrate
percentage problems. In each example, youre required to cal-
culate a different element of the percentage formula: first the
percentage, second the rate, and finally the base.
Finding the Percentage
Example: Mr. Gomez earns a 9% commission on every item
he sells at Wademans Appliance Store. During one week he
sold $3,560 worth of appliances. What was his commission
for the week?
Solution: Youre given the base ($3,560) and the rate (9%).
Find the percentage.
P R B Select the correct formula.
P .09 $3,560 Substitute the known values. (Change the
rate to a decimal first.)
Perform the calculation. Answer: The
commission is $320.40.
$3,560
.09
$320.40
To Find: Use the Formula:

Percentage (P) P = R B
Rate (R) R = P B
Base (B) B = P R
FIGURE 15Percent Formulas
78
Finding the Rate
Example: Samuel Berk operates a small business. Last month,
Sam had business income of $4,500, and he spent $250 on
advertising. What is his rate of spending on advertising?
Solution: To answer this question, you must determine what
percent of his income Sam spends on advertising. Youre given
the base ($4,500) and the percentage ($250) in this problem,
so find the rate.
R P B Select the correct formula.
R $250 $4,500 Substitute the known values in the
formula.
Perform the calculation and round to the
nearest thousandth.
.056 5.6% Change the resulting decimal into a
percentage. Move the decimal point two
places to the right. Answer: Sams rate
of advertising spending is 5.6%.
Finding the Base
Example: Clarence bought a coat on sale for $98. This sale
price was 70% of the original price. What was the original price?
Solution: Look at the information youre given. You know that
the rate (R) is 70%. You also know that $98 is the percentage
(P) because its part of the original price. Find the base (B),
which is the total original price.
B P R Select the formula.
B $98 .70 Substitute the values into the formula. (Be
sure to change the rate to a decimal. 70%
equals .70 as a decimal.)
)
4500 250.0000
225 00
25 000
22 500
2 5000
2 2500
2500
.0555

79
Perform the calculation. Answer: The orig-
inal price of the coat was $140.
Discounts
Youve probably seen many advertisements of special sales.
Usually, the sale offers certain articles at a reduced price. For
example:
Mens jackets reduced 25%
The reduction in price is called a discount, or a markdown. The
original price at which goods are sold, without any reduction,
is the marked price. The price at which the goods are sold is
the selling price. When theres no discount, the selling price
and the marked price are the same.
Retail discounts like those just mentioned are often expressed
in percent. For example, how can you find the selling price of
a chair marked $75 subject to a discount of 20%?
This problem is really a simple matter of finding the percent-
age and then subtracting it from the original price. Use the
formula P R B to find the percentage.
P .20 75 $15.00
To determine the selling price, subtract the result from the
original price.
Discount Series
Often several discounts are quoted by a wholesaler. When
theres more than one discount, the discounts are called a
discount series. The first discount is a percent of the list price.
The second discount is a percent of the remainder after the
first discount has been subtracted from the list price, and so
on. To find the selling price, multiply the list price by the first
percent and subtract the discount from the list price.
$ 75.00
15.00
$ 60.00
)
.70 98.00
70
28.0
28.0
0
140.

80
Compute the second discount using the first remainder as
a base, and subtract it from the first remainder. Repeat this
process, using each remainder as the base for computing the
next discount. The last remainder is the selling price.
Example: Find the selling price of an item listed at $300
subject to discounts of 40%, 10%, and 5%.
Solution:
List price $300.00
Less first discount (40% of $300) 120.00
Remainder after first discount 180.00
Less second discount (10% of 180) 18.00
Remainder after second discount 162.00
Less third discount (5% of 162) 8.10
Selling price (answer) $153.90
Example: On a bill of goods amounting to $720, discounts
of 30%, 10%, and 5% are allowed. What is the selling price?
Solution:
List price $720.00
Less third discount (5% of $453.60) 22.68
Markups and Selling Prices
When goods are sold, theyre priced to cover the wholesale cost
of an itemthe cost of doing business and making a profit.
To figure the selling price, or marked price, the retailer adds
a markup to the wholesale cost of the item. In most cases,
the markup is expressed as a percentage.
Example: A retailer buys bolts wholesale from the manufac-
turer for $1.20 apiece. The markup is 10%. What will be the
marked price or selling price of each bolt?
Solution: First, figure the dollar amount of the markup
using the base ($1.20) and the rate (10%) by choosing the
correct formula.
81
P = R B Select the formula.
P = .10 1.20 Substitute the values into the formula.
$1.20 Perform the calculation.
.10
$.12
$1.20 + .12 = $1.32 Now add the markup amount ($.12) to the
wholesale cost of the goods.
The bolts are sold for $1.32 apiece.
Sales Taxes
Sales taxes are figured in a similar manner to markupsby
adding a percentage of the total sale to the total sale price.
Thousandths are usually rounded to the nearest penny.
However, its important to note that each state has its own
system of taxation. For example, some states tax only goods
sold. Other states have different taxes for different products.
Fortunately, modern cash registers automatically calculate
the tax only on taxable goods and/or services as well as the
grand total of taxable items, nontaxable items, and the tax
amount. However, knowing how to figure taxes is a valuable
skill.
Example 1. You must order some new office equipment with
a budget of $10,000.00, taxes included. The total price of the
equipment comes to $9,500.00. Your state has a 6% sales
tax. Can you make this purchase and stay within your
budget?
$9,500.00 Find the price of the taxes.
.06
$570.00
$9,500.00 Add the price of the equipment and the
+ 570.00 price of the taxes to find the total cost.
$10,070.00
82
Youre over budget! Youll have to renegotiate either your
budget or the cost of the equipment.
Example 2. Youre ready to check out at the grocery store and
their credit/debit card readers are down. Your checkbook is
at home. You can use only the $20.00 cash in your pocket.
Your state charges no sales tax on food, but 5% sales tax on
nonfood merchandise. Before you get in line, you want to
make sure you have enough cash for everything in your gro-
cery cart. In your grocery cart, you have
Chicken $6.95
Rice $1.39
Milk $2.50
Detergent $7.99
$7.99 Figure taxes on the nonfood item.
.05
$0.40
$6.95 Add all of the charges together.
$1.39
$2.50
$7.99
+ $0.40
$19.23
Yes, you have enough cash to get everything in your cart.
Percent of Increase and Decrease
Certain values change from year to year, even from day to day.
Total sales go up or down, prices rise and fall, the values of
machines and equipment depreciate, and the values of invest-
ments increase.
Suppose someone told you that the price of an item increased
by one dollar. What does this information tell you? Not much,
unless you know what the item is and how much it originally
cost. For example, if the item was a candy bar that originally
sold for 50 cents, then a one-dollar price increase would be
very significant. On the other hand, if the item was a vacuum
cleaner that originally sold for $99, then the one-dollar price
increase would be insignificant.
83
This is where percents can be very useful. If the person told
you the percent of the price increase, the information would
be more meaningful. So, if the person was talking about the
50-cent candy bar, the one-dollar price riseto $1.50would
have been a 200% increase. If the person was referring to a
one-dollar price rise on the $99 vacuum cleanerto $100
the increase would have been about 1%. See how much
difference this information makes?
To find the percent of increase on decrease, follow these
steps:
Step 1: The problem will give you two amounts (prices,
values, etc.). Subtract the smaller given amount
from the larger given amount.
Step 2: Divide the difference by the starting amount given
(the original price or value before the increase or
decrease happens).
Step 3: Change the decimal in the quotient to a percent.
Example: Last year the cost of Ahmads car insurance was
$630. This year he had two accidents, so the insurance com-
pany raised his yearly bill to $1,008. What was the percent of
increase in Ahmads car insurance?
Solution: Follow the steps above to find the percent of
increase.
$1,008 $630 $378 Subtract the smaller number from the
larger number.
Divide the difference by the starting
amount ($630).
.60 60% Change the quotient to a percent by
moving the decimal point two places to
the right. Answer: The cost of Ahmads
insurance increased by 60%.
Example: Coaches Corner Sporting Goods had a sale on
athletic shoes. Their top-of-the-line basketball shoe usually
sells for $90. During the sale, the same model sold for $72.
What percent was the shoe discounted for the sale?
)
630 378.00
378.0
0
.6

84
Solution: Follow the steps above to find the percent of
decrease.
$90 $72 $18 Subtract the smaller number from the
larger number.
amount ($90).
.20 20% Change the quotient to a percent by mov-
ing the decimal point two places to the
right. Answer: The percent of the discount
was 20%.
Cash Discounts
Businesses frequently allow a discount for prompt payment.
Such discounts are called cash discounts. An invoice for goods
upon which such a discount applies will have a notation on it
something like this:
Terms: 3/10, n/30
This is read three percent, ten days; net, thirty days. In
other words, the net amount is due within 30 days, but a
discount of 3% is allowed if the bill is paid within 10 days.
Heres another example:
Terms: 3/10, 1/30, n/60
This means that you may deduct 3% if you pay within
10 days. If you pay after 10 days but before 30 days, you
may deduct 1%. If you make payment after 30 days, you
must pay the net amount before 60 days have expired.
Naturally, the amount of a cash discount cant be shown on
an invoice because the seller doesnt know when youll pay
the bill. For this reason you must compute whatever cash
discount is due you on the invoice cost when you pay the
bill.
In such problems, youre given the base (the net amount of
the bill) and the rate (the discount) and you must calculate
the percentage. Use the formula P R B. Then simply sub-
tract this percentage from the net amount of the invoice.
)
90 18.0
18.0
0
.2

85
Shipping Charges
Another fee that affects the net cost of goods to the buyer is
the cost of shipping the merchandise. Who pays this charge
is a very important question. Youve probably seen or heard
of the abbreviation F.O.B., which stands for free on board.
It means that the shipper will pay transportation charges to
the place named. For example, if a Philadelphia concern sells
goods F.O.B. Philadelphia, they will deliver the goods to the
freight yard in Philadelphia. The buyer must pay the charges
from that point. If this same firm were to sell goods F.O.B.
destination, it would pay all the freight charges to the desti-
nation selected by the buyer.
Example: How much would you have to pay for an item
that sells for $250, F.O.B. factory? The terms are
2
/
10
,
2
/
10
;
freight, $28. (Assume that you pay the invoice in less than
10 days.)
Since youre paying in less than 10 days,
you can deduct 2% from the invoice.
Calculate 2% of $250.
Deduct the 2% ($5) from the amount of the
invoice.
Add the shipping charges to the dis-
counted amount. You cant deduct 2%
from the shipping charges; therefore, you
must add them last.
The total amount you must pay is $273.
Calculator Applications: Percentage
Using a calculator to solve percentage problems is just like
using it to calculate decimals. For example, suppose you must
find 32% of 96. To do this by hand, you would multiply as
follows:
.32 96
You already know how to perform this calculation by hand
and on the calculator.
$ 245
28
$ 273
$ 250
5
$ 245
$ 250
.02
$5.00

86
However, calculators have a special percent key (see Figure 7)
that can be especially helpful in working with percentages. For
example, suppose you purchase an article for $69.95 and the
sales tax rate is 6%. What will you pay for the article?
To solve this problem by hand, you must first find 6% of $69.95
and then add that amount to the cost. On a calculator, how-
ever, you can do this in one step. Heres how:
1. Turn on the calculator.
2. Enter the cost of the item. Press 6, 9, decimal point, 9, 5.
3. Press the + key. (Youre going to add the 6% to this
amount.)
4. Press 6 and then the % key. Press the = key. The answer
74.147 should appear in the window. Round this off to
two decimal points and add a dollar sign. The total cost
of the article is $74.15.
With the percent key, you can also figure the grand total when
both taxable and nontaxable items are being purchased. Using
the items from example 2 in the sales tax section (Chicken
$6.95, Rice $1.39, Milk $2.50, Detergent $7.99), suppose you
also purchased shampoo at $5.89. Figure the grand total this
way:
1. Turn on your calculator.
2. Enter the cost of the first taxable item, detergent. Press
7, decimal point, 9, 9.
3. Press the + key.
4. Enter the next taxable item, shampoo. Press 5, decimal
point, 8, 9.
5. Press the = key.
6. Press the + key. (Youre going to add the 5% sales tax to
the taxable items.)
7. Press the 5 and then the percent key. This is the total of
taxable items and the tax.
8. Press the + key.
9. Enter the first nontaxable item. Press 6, decimal point,
9, 5.
87
10. Press the + key.
11. Enter the next non-taxable item. Press 1, decimal point,
3, 9.
12. Press the + key.
13. Enter the last taxable item. Press 2, decimal point, 5, 0.
14. Press the = key.
15. The answer is the grand total of the taxable items, the
tax, and the nontaxable items.
Now suppose you receive an invoice for $2,969 with the terms
3/10, 1/30, n/60. You plan to pay the bill immediately so you
can deduct 3%. Heres how to use your calculator to determine
what you owe.
1. Turn on the calculator or press the clear key.
2. Enter the invoice total. Press 2, 9, 6, 9.
3. Press the key. (Youre going to subtract the 3% from
the total.)
4. Press 3 and then the % key. Press the = key. The answer
2,879.93 should appear in the window. The amount you
must pay is $2,879.93.
The nice part about the percent key is that it allows you to per-
form two operations in one. Imagine how helpful that would
be in solving a problem involving discount series. Lets do the
first example that we did above when we looked at discount
series so you can see how easy it is.
1. Turn on the calculator or press the clear key.
2. Enter the list price, $300, and press the key.
3. Press 40 and the % key. Press the = key.
4. Press the key again.
5. Press 10 and then the % key. Press the = key.
6. Press the key again.
7. Press 5 and the % key. Press the = key. The answer
$153.90 should appear in the window.
That was easy, wasnt it?
88
Percentage versus Percentile
Its important to know the difference between percentage
and percentile. Percentile is most often used to show where
something falls in a comparison ranking. Suppose, after an
evaluation, subjects are ranked by how well they performed
during the evaluation, from lowest to highest score. If the
scores are reported as percentages, this tells us how well
each subject did on the evaluation. However, percentile
shows how well a given subject did compared to the others
who were evaluated.
Example: Along with her classmates at a very good school,
Sara took a licensing exam to evaluate the knowledge she had
gained in her field. She scored in the 75th percentile for her
school, meaning 75% of the test takers did as well or worse
than Sara. This also means that 25% did better than Sara.
The hiring manager wasnt sure that Sara knew enough to fill
the position for which she was licensed. Fortunately for Sara,
her percentage of correct answers was also on the scoring
report. Sara had answered 95% of the test questions correctly.
The hiring manger was now confident that Sara had the requi-
site knowledge.
89
Self-Check 5
1. Change each fraction to a percent.
a. ________ c. ________
b. ________ d. ________
2. Change each percent to a decimal.
a. 43% ________ c. 13.6% ________
b. 2.5% ________ d. 521% ________
3. Change each decimal to a percent.
a. .73 ________ c. .176 ________
b. .023 ________ d. 2.415 ________
4. Change each percent to a fraction or a mixed number. Reduce if possible.
a. 3% ________ c. 289% ________
b. 51% ________ d. 325% ________
5. Find the following percentages.
a. 15% of 930 ________ c. 4.2% of 50 ________
b. 6% of 120 ________ d. 200% of 145 ________
6. Find the following rates. Round your answer to the nearest hundredth.
a. ?% of 75 = 5 ________ c. ?% of 100 = 40 ________
b. ?% of 28 = 20 ________ d. ?% of 200 = 50 ________
7. Find the following bases.
a. 8% of ? = 20 ________ c. 20% of ? = 45 ________
b. 75% of ? = 30 ________ d. 150% of ? = 36 ________
8. The sales tax rate in a certain state is 8%. How much would you pay in total for a taxable
item that costs $25.25?
__________________________________________________________
9. Alicia answered 20 out of 25 problems correctly on a test. What percent did she get correct?
__________________________________________________________
(Continued)
100
100
357
100
3
8
6
100
90
Self-Check 5
10. Calculate the discount on each of the following:
Marked Price Discount
$100 12% a. _______
$75 20% b. _______
$60 25% c. _______
$72.80 15% d. _______
$150 8% e. _______
11. What is the selling price of an article that lists at $1500 subject to discounts of 40%, 25%,
and 10%?
__________________________________________________________
12. If youre currently making $10.50 per hour and youre offered a new job that pays $11.75
per hour, what will be your percent of increase in pay?
__________________________________________________________
13. Find the price you would have to pay for the following item: radio $500, F.O.B. factory; less
30%, 10%, 5%; terms: 2/10; freight $62. (Assume that you pay the invoice as soon as you
receive it.)
__________________________________________________________
14. Youve bought 20 calculators listed at $125 each less 15%. The date of the invoice was June
28, and you paid the bill on July 6. What amount did you pay if the terms were 3/10, n/60?
__________________________________________________________
15. A coat was marked down from $325 to $275. What was the percent of discount?
__________________________________________________________
16. Use your calculator to check your answers to problems 115.
91
INCOME
Earning Money
As you know, an employee is any person who earns money,
or wages, to do work for another person or company. The
employer is the person or company who pays the employee.
The employees pay may be based on hourly wages, piece-
work wages, salary, commission, or some combination of
these methods. The employee may also be paid overtime for
working more than his or her usual amount of hours per day
or week. The amount of money earned in a pay period is
called gross pay.
Hourly Wages
To calculate the amount earned by an employee who works for
hourly wages, simply multiply the number of hours worked by
the hourly rate.
Example: John works the following hours in one week:
Monday 6 hours
Tuesday 8 hours
Wednesday 8 hours
Thursday 10 hours
Friday 10 hours
Total 42 hours
Find Johns gross pay if his pay rate is $8.50 per hour
Solution: To find Johns gross pay, multiply the total hours
worked by the hourly rate.
Hourly Rate
Total Hours
Multiply
Place the decimal in the product.
Answer: John makes $357.00.
$ 8.50
42
1700
34000
357.00

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Overtime
Many companies pay a higher hourly wage for working
overtimethat is, more than 40 hours a week. A common
overtime rate is time and a half. This means that employees
will be paid 1.5 times their hourly rate for overtime hours.
Example: Lets say John works for a company that pays
time and a half for any hours over 40 in any particular week.
Determine his gross pay.
Solution: First, you would determine Johns overtime rate.
Then, you would multiply this rate by the number of overtime
hours. Finally, add these overtime wages to his regular wages
to find Johns gross pay.
Multiply Johns hourly rate by 1.5 to
determine his overtime rate.
Place a decimal in the product. Johns
overtime rate is $12.75.
42 40 2 Subtract 40 from the number of hours
John worked to determine his overtime
hours.
Multiply his overtime rate by his overtime
hours.
Place a decimal in the product. John
makes $25.50 for his overtime hours.
Multiply 40 by Johns hourly rate to find
his regular wages.
Place a decimal in the product. John
makes $340.00 for his regular hours.
Finally, add Johns regular wages to his
overtime wages.
Answer: John earns $365.50.
Sometimes a company pays overtime based on the number of
hours worked per day instead of the number of hours worked
per week.
Example: Lets say John, from the previous examples, gets
paid time and a half for any hours over an eight-hour work-
day. Find his gross pay.
$ 340.00
25.50
$ 365.50
$ 8.50
40
$ 340.00
$ 12.75
2
$ 25.50
$ 8.50
1.5
4250
8500
$ 12.750

93
Solution: Since John is paid overtime based on an eight-hour
workday, hell earn time and a half for the two overtime hours
on Thursday and the two overtime hours on Friday. Therefore,
John will earn overtime pay for 4 hours and his regular rate for
the other 38 hours.
Multiply Johns overtime rate by his
overtime hours. John makes $51.00 in
overtime.
Multiply Johns regular rate by his regular
hours. John makes $323.00 for his regular
pay.
Finally, add Johns overtime wages to his
regular wages.
Answer: Johns gross pay is $374.00.
In addition to time and a half, some companies pay double
(or even triple) time for working on weekends and holidays.
Piecework Wages
Instead of paying workers for the amount of time they put in,
some companies pay workers for the amount of work they
complete. The rate paid for work done by the piece is called
piecework rate. Piecework rates are most commonly used in
manufacturing and agriculture.
Example: Suppose that Raquels company manufactures
widgets and pays employees $2.25 per widget produced.
Using the following chart, which lists the number of widgets
Raquel made each day, find her gross pay.
Monday 20
Tuesday 28
Wednesday 29
Thursday 43
Friday 41
Total 161
Solution: Simply multiply the piecework rate by the total
number of widgets Raquel produced.
$ 323.00
51.00
$ 374.00
$ 8.5
38
68 00
255 00
$ 323.00
$ 12.75
4
$ 51.00

94
Multiply the rate by the number produced.
Place a decimal in the product.
Answer: Raquels gross pay is $362.25.
Sometimes a company combines the piecework rate with a
minimum pay. With minimum pay, employees always count
on a certain amount of money for the pay period no matter
how much work they produce.
Salary
Some employees are paid a salary, or fixed amount. Salary
may be stated weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, monthly, or
annually. You can compare salaries that arent based on the
same pay period by converting each to its annual equivalent.
For example, Leroy is offered an annual salary of $20,000.
Lets figure out how much that is for each of the following:
Weekly: 52 weeks per year
$20,000 52 $384.62 (rounded)
Biweekly: 26 pay periods per year
$20,000 26 $769.23 (rounded)
Semimonthly: 24 pay periods per year
$20,000 24 $833.33 (rounded)
Monthly: 12 months per year
$20,000 12 $1,666.67
(rounded)
To find these amounts, we simply divided the same $20,000
per year into a different number of pay periods per year. In
each case, if you multiply the amount per pay period by the
number of pay periods per year, the total amount Leroy earns,
except for the effects of rounding, is the same. All that changes
is how often he gets paid and how much he gets paid each time.
$ 2.25
161
225
13500
22500
$ 362.25

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Commissions
People who work in sales are often paid on a commission basis.
A commission is similar to piecework except its based on sales
instead of the number of items produced. Commission is usu-
ally based on the dollar amount of sales.
Example: If Paul earns 4% commission on total sales and his
sales this week total $8,750, find his gross pay.
Solution: To find Pauls earnings, simply change the percentage
to a decimal and multiply by total sales.
4% .04 Change 4% to a decimal by moving the dec-
imal point two places to the left. Multiply
this decimal by total sales.
Place a decimal point in the product.
Answer: Pauls earnings are $350.00.
In this example Paul earned whats called straight commission.
In other words, everything he earned was based on commission.
Sometimes companies pay a base salary plus commission. In
this case, gross pay would be found by adding earnings from
commission to the base salary.
Net Pay
Have you ever looked at your pay stub and wondered where
it all went? Sometimes it doesnt seem as if you have much
take-home pay. As you know, your gross pay is the amount
of money you earned in a pay period. Your net pay, or take-
home pay, is your gross pay minus deductions. A deduction
is money withheld from pay for taxes, insurance, contribu-
tions, retirement, etc.
The largest deduction from most peoples paycheck is for taxes.
These include federal income tax, Social Security tax or FICA,
state tax, and local tax.
The amount of federal income tax withheld from your check
is determined by the number of withholding allowances you
claim and the amount of your gross pay. You may claim one
withholding allowance for yourself, one for your spouse, and
one for each dependent child.
$ 8750
.04
$ 350.00

96
FICA stands for Federal Insurance Contributions Act, but
most of us know it better as Social Security. This tax is with-
held from employees paychecks at a set percentage of pay up
to a maximum amount of income. If the employee earns over
that maximum amount in the year, the remainder of income
is not subject to FICA withholding. Both the maximum amount
subject to the tax and the tax rate have changed over the years.
Example: Lets say Paul, from the previous example, also
has a base weekly salary of $500.00. His total deductions are
$135.50. Find his net pay.
Solution: To find Pauls net pay, simply add his base salary
to his commission and subtract the total deductions.
Add Pauls base salary to his commission.
His gross pay is $850.00.
Subtract the total deductions from his
gross pay.
Answer: Pauls net pay is $714.50.
Calculator Applications: Income
You already know how to perform all of the necessary calcula-
tions on your calculator in order to determine gross pay and
net pay. You learned about finding percents, adding and sub-
tracting in previous sections. Now youll simply apply all of
these to income.
For example, suppose Casey earns a base salary of $750.00.
She also receives a commission of 5% on her total sales of
$1500.00. Her total deductions are $174.65. Find her net pay.
On a calculator this problem can be solved as follows:
2. Enter the total sales. Press 1, 5, 0, 0.
3. Press the key. (Youre going to multiply the 5% by this
amount.)
4. Press 5 and then the % key. Press the = key. (Note: On
some calculators, you dont have to press the = key.) The
number 75 should appear in the window.
850.00
135.50
714.50
500.00
350.00
850.00

97
5. Press the + key. (Youre going to add this number to the
base salary.)
6. Enter the base salary. Press 7, 5, 0.
7. Press the = key. The number 825 should appear in the
window.
8. Press the key. (Youre going to subtract the total deduc-
tions from this number.)
9. Enter the total deductions. Press 1, 7, 4, decimal point,
6, 5.
10. Press the = key. The answer 650.35 should appear in the
window. Caseys net pay was $650.35.
Self-Check 6
1. Mary works for a company that pays time and a half for hours over 40 in a week and double
time for holidays. This week she worked 8 hours on Monday (which was a holiday), 10 hours
on Tuesday, 10 hours on Wednesday, 9 hours on Thursday, and 8 hours on Friday. If Mary
earns $8 per hour, what is the total of Marys earnings for the week?
__________________________________________________________
2. Bridgette and her friends Jill and Barb are talking about how much money they earn. Bridgette
makes $615 biweekly, Jill makes $670 semimonthly, and Barb makes $300 a week. Who earns
the most?
__________________________________________________________
3. Mike is a salesperson in a retail carpet store. He is paid $500 base salary per month plus 5%
commission on sales over $10,000. His sales this month were $23,750. His total deductions
were $152.75. What is Mikes net pay?
__________________________________________________________
98
INTEREST
Definition
In business, one of the most common meanings of the word
interest is the cost of money. When you deposit your money
in a financial institution, your money earns interest. The finan-
cial institution is actually paying you to use the money youve
deposited to make loans to individuals and businesses. Then
those individuals and businesses pay interest to the financial
institution for the use of the money theyve borrowed. Interest
is always calculated in the same way, whether its interest on
money deposited or interest on money borrowed.
When evaluating the various uses of money, its important to
know both the present value and future value of it. The present
value is the amount of money you have now. The future value
is the amount of money it will become at a future date.
Example 1: If today you put money in an interest-bearing
bank account, which you dont plan on touching for two years,
the present value is the amount you put into the bank. The
future value is the present value plus the interest received by
the end of the two years. When you receive a bank statement
telling you how much money you have in your account, thats
the present value as of the statement date.
Example 2: If you loan the money with interest, the present
value is the amount you loan. The future value is the total of
the money loaned plus the interest youll have received over
the life of the loan.
Keep these ideas in mind as you learn more about interest.
Simple Interest
The easiest type of interest to calculate is simple interest.
Simple interest is found by multiplying a base amount by an
interest rate or percent and factoring in the consideration of
time. In an interest calculation, the amount of interest is the
percentage. Recall that the percentage isnt a percent (thats
always the rate). By amount we mean the dollar amount of
99
interest. The base is the amount of money deposited or bor-
rowed, which is called the principal. Therefore, the formula
for finding interest can be stated as follows:
Interest Principal Rate Time or Interest P R T
The rate for interest is always stated per year. Of course, you
dont always deposit or borrow money for exactly a year or
multiple of a year. You might deposit money for 10 months or
borrow money for 18 months. When time is expressed in the
number of months, you simply write it as a fraction with the
number of months in the numerator and 12 (the number of
months in a year) in the denominator:
10
/
12
and
18
/
12
. In this
way, time is still written in a portion of a year.
In other cases, especially with loans, time may be expressed
in daysfor example, 120 days. You still write time as a
portion of a year in a fraction, but there are two ways to
calculate time expressed as days. The most obvious way is
called exact interest. When the interest cost is calculated
using exact interest, the number of days is the numerator of
the fraction, and 365 (the number of days in a year) is the
denominator:
120
/
365
.
The other method of calculating interest is called bankers
interest or ordinary interest. With this method, the number of
days is still the numerator of the fraction, but 360 (rather than
the exact 365 days) is the denominator:
120
/
360
.
Example: You deposit $525 in a savings account that pays
5.5% interest. How much interest will you earn in two years?
Solution: Substitute the values into the interest formula and
solve.
Interest = P R T Use the interest formula.
Interest = 525 .055 2 Substitute the given values.
Interest = 57.75 Multiply to solve.
Answer: Youll earn $57.75. The present value is $525. The
future value is $582.75.
Example: You borrow $1200 for 120 days at 6%. Calculate
the amount of ordinary interest youll pay to the bank.
100
Solution: Substitute the values into the interest formula and
solve. Remember to express the time as a fraction, using 360
in the denominator.
Interest P R T Use the interest formula.
Interest 1200 .06
120
/
360
Substitute the given values.
Interest 24 Multiply to solve.
Answer: Youll pay $24.
Compound Interest
Simple interest is calculated on the principal only. In compound
interest, the interest is added to the principal and future inter-
est is calculated on both the principal and the interest. In
other words, you earn interest on your interest. Interest can
be compounded semiannually, quarterly, monthly, daily, even
continuously.
To calculate compound interest, you must first consider how
often the interest is compounded. For example, if interest is
compounded semiannually, then your interest is calculated
twice a yearevery 6 months. Therefore, there are two com-
pounding periods in the year.
Example: How much money will you have at the end of one
year if interest is compounded semiannually at 8% on a $500
deposit?
Solution: First, you will find the interest earned during the
first compounding period. Then, youll add this to the original
principal. Next, find the interest on this new principal for the
second compounding period. Finally, add this interest to the
new principal to obtain the final balance.
Interest P R T Use the interest formula.
Interest 500 .08
6
/
12
Substitute the values. Since inter-
est is compounded semiannually,
the time is 6 months.
Interest 20 Multiply to solve.
101
New principal Add the interest to the principal
500 20 520 to get the new principal. Use this
amount to calculate the interest
for the second compounding
period.
Interest 520 .08
6
/
12
Substitute the values.
Interest 20.80 Multiply to solve
Balance Add the interest to the principal.
520 20.80 540.80
Answer: The final balance will be $540.80, which is the
future value of the $500 deposit.
If the interest were compounded quarterly, there would be
4 periods in a year. You calculate the interest the same way,
except that you have to repeat the calculations 4 times for
each year. For monthly compounding, you have to repeat the
calculations 12 times for each year. Although this process
isnt difficult, it is tedious and time-consuming. Fortunately,
there are tables available that make calculating compound
interest much easier.
Loan Amortization
Loan amortization is the process of paying down a loan until
its completely redeemed. A loan taken out for three years is
said to amortize in three years. A loan amortization schedule
is a chart or table showing the amount of principal remaining
and the amount of interest for each payment. Think of it as
the opposite of a table showing a rate of compound interest.
In a loan amortization schedule, the amount of principal and
the amount of interest steadily shrink until they reach zero.
For a compound interest loan, the amount of interest is based
on the amount of principal still outstanding and the fraction
of time the payment period represents. Each time a payment
is made, the interest for that time period is paid first. The rest
of each payment pays down the principal. This is the unpaid
principal balance rule for repayment.
Another method of repayment follows the Rule of 78. The Rule
of 78 front loads the interest payments so that the finance
company gets its interest right away. The name derives from
102
a rather complicated formula used in figuring interest on
each payment. Although the payment amount is the same
either way, at first, a much larger portion of the payment
goes to the interest and a much smaller portion goes to the
principal until the interest is paid off. At that point, the total
payment goes to the principal. If the borrower makes each
payment on time without paying the loan off early, the total
amount of the loan plus interest is the same amount derived
using the unpaid principal balance rule. However, if the loan
is paid off early, the borrower ends up paying more interest,
because at the beginning, the unpaid principal each month is
greater due to less of the payment going towards the principal.
Thus, when lenders recalculate to see how much interest to
give back, theyre calculating on a larger unpaid principal
each month at the beginning. Lenders like this method
because it helps offset the cost of defaulted loans.
Loan amortization schedules require knowing the principal, the
rate, the time, and the payment amount. Finding the install-
ment payment amount for a compound interest loan requires
a fairly complex formula, which in todays business world is
calculated by entering the principal, the rate, the time, and
the number of payments into a loan payment calculator pro-
gram. Once thats done, the program uses this information to
generate a loan amortization schedule. If you dont have such
a program, there are numerous Web sites on the Internet that
will calculate both your payment amount and amortization
schedule.
Calculator Applications: Interest
Once again, using the calculator to find interest requires per-
forming operations youve done before. Lets find the interest
on a $1000 loan at 8% for 3 years.
2. Enter the principal. Press 1, 0, 0, 0.
3. Press the key. (Youre going to multiply the principal
by the rate.)
4. Press 8 and then the % key. Press the = key. (Note: On
some calculators, you dont have to press the = key.) The
number 80 should appear in the window.
103
5. Press the key. (Youre going to multiply this number by
the time. Note: On some calculators, pressing the key
at this point will multiply the previously input numbers.
If this happens on your calculator, clear the numbers
and input 80 again.)
6. Enter the time. Press 3.
7. Press the = key. The answer of 240 should appear in the
window. The interest owed is $240.
Self-Check 7
1. You borrow $1500 at 12% for 3 years. What is the amount of interest?
__________________________________________________________
2. You borrow $3600 for 250 days at 8%. How much will you have to repay if the rate is
calculated using exact interest? using ordinary interest?
__________________________________________________________
3. You deposit $300 in a savings account that pays 6% interest compounded semiannually.
How much will you have at the end of one year?
__________________________________________________________
104
THE METRIC SYSTEM
Why Metric?
Youve probably noticed that some metric units are now being
used frequently in the United States. The most obvious
example of this is the common two-liter bottle of soda. Its
been on the market for so long that we now just take it for
granted. Do you remember how you used to buy soda before
companies introduced two-liter bottles? If not, it just shows
how accustomed youve become to this metric unit. As the
United States trades more and more with foreign countries,
standard units of measurement are becoming more and more
important. The standard will undoubtedly be the metric sys-
tem. Currently, some items exported from the United States,
like Kodak 35 mm film, are expressed in metric units. Also,
the length of imported skis is given in centimeters.
Because the metric system will probably become the standard
system of measurement around the world, it may soon be a
reality in the United Statesespecially in the business world.
You should, therefore, be familiar with some of the terms used
in the system and how they relate to the common English sys-
tem with which youre already acquainted.
Metric Units
The three metric units that you may encounter are shown
below:
Unit Quantity Measured
meter length
gram mass (weight)
liter liquid capacity
These units are called base units because other units of length,
weight, and capacity are derived from them. To indicate units
that are larger or smaller than the base units, the metric sys-
tem uses prefixes. For example, the prefix milli always means
1,000 times smaller. Therefore, a millimeter is a unit thats
1,000 times smaller than a meter. On the other hand, the
105
prefix kilo means 1,000 times larger. Therefore, a kilometer is
1,000 times larger than a meter. In other words, a kilometer
equals 1,000 meters.
Table 1 shows the common metric prefixes from largest to
smallest along with their relationship to the base unit. The
first prefix listed is kilo, which designates a unit thats 1,000
times larger than the base unit. Therefore, one kilogram equals
1,000 grams. The third prefix in the table is deka, which cre-
ates a unit thats 10 times larger than the base unit. Therefore,
one decagram equals 10 grams.
In Table 1, all the prefixes above the base unit create a unit
thats larger than the base unit. The prefixes listed below the
base unit create a unit thats smaller than the base unit. For
example, the prefix centi creates a unit thats 100 times smaller
than the base unit. Therefore, one centimeter equals .01 meter.
Using Conversion Factors
At work you may occasionally have to convert units from the
English system of measurement to the metric system, or you
may have to convert from the metric system to the English
system. Such conversions are often necessary to complete busi-
ness transactions. To make these conversions, you must use
a conversion factor.
Table 1
COMMON METRIC PREFIXES
Prefix Relationship to Base Unit
kilo 1,000 times larger
hecto 100 times larger
deka 10 times larger
Base Unit
deci 10 times smaller
centi 100 times smaller
milli 1,000 times smaller
106
A conversion factor is a number by which an amount in one
unit is multiplied to obtain the same amount in a different unit.
For example, if you want to know how many inches there are
in 4 feet, you must multiply 4 (the number of feet) by 12 (the
number of inches in one foot). Since 4 12 48, you know
that there are 48 inches in 4 feet. In this example, 12 is the
conversion factor for changing feet to inches.
Table 2 shows conversion factors for some of the measure-
ments you may encounter. The table is relatively easy to use.
If you wish to convert a metric unit to its English equivalent,
use the left side of the table (Metric to English); if you wish
to convert an English unit to its metric equivalent, use the
right side of the table (English to Metric). To illustrate how
its done, lets look at some examples.
Table 2
COMMON METRIC PREFIXES
Metric to English English to Metric
To Convert Multiply By To Convert Multiply By
Length
meters to feet 3.28 feet to meters 0.3
millimeters to inches 0.039 inches to millimeters 25.4
kilometers to miles 0.6214 miles to kilometers 1.6093
Area
square meters to square feet 10.76 square feet to square meters 0.0929
Volume
cubic meters to cubic feet 35.3147 cubic feet to cubic meters 0.0283
Liquid Capacity
liters to U.S. quarts 1.057 U.S. quarts to liters 0.946
liters to Canadian quarts 0.88 Canadian quarts to liters 1.13649
Speed or Velocity
meters per second to feet per second to
feet per second 3.281 meters per second 0.3048
kilometers per hour to miles per hour to
miles per hour 0.6214 kilometers per hour 1.6093
107
Example: Suppose you have a measurement of 4 m (meters)
that you must convert to feet.
Meters to feet Since youre converting from met-
ric to English units, use the left
side of the table. In the column
headed To Convert, find the
desired conversion. Meters to
feet is the first item listed.
3.28 Look at the number next to this
entry in the column headed
Multiply By.
4 3.28 = 13.12 ft Multiply the number of feet (4) by
the conversion factor (3.28).
The answer is 13.12 ft. There are 13.12 ft in 4 m (meters).
Example: The distance from your office to its nearest sub-
sidiary is 28.5 miles. What is this distance in kilometers?
Miles to kilometers Since youre converting from
English to metric units, use
the right side of the table. In the
column headed To Convert, find
the desired conversion. Miles to
kilometers is the third item listed.
1.6093 Look at the number next to this
entry in the column headed
Multiply By.
28.5 1.6093 = 45.86505, Multiply the number of miles
which rounds to 45.87 (28.5) by the conversion factor
(1.6093).
The answer is 45.87 (rounded). There are 45.87 km (kilometers)
in 28.5 miles.
Example: Youre expecting a delivery of a new piece of
equipment in your department. The area where you plan
to put it is 10 ft long. The information you received on the
machine tells you that the length of the machine is 2.5 m.
Will the new machine fit in the 10-ft space?
To solve this problem, you must either (1) convert the length of
the machine to feet or (2) convert the measurement of the space
to meters. Lets change the length of the machine to feet.
108
Metric to English Since youre converting from metric to
English, use the left side of the table. In
the column headed To Convert, find the
desired conversion. Meters to feet is the
first item listed.
3.28 Look at the number next to this entry in
the column headed Multiply By.
2.5 3.28 = 8.2 Multiply the length of the machine (2.5)
by the conversion factor (3.28).
The length of the machine is 8.2 ft. Therefore, you know that
it will fit in the 10-ft space you have available.
Now lets solve this same problem again, but this time convert
the size of the space (10 ft) to meters.
English to metric Since youre converting from English to
metric, use the right side of the table. In
the column headed To convert, find the
desired conversion. Feet to meters is the
first item listed.
0.3 Look at the number next to this entry in
the column headed Multiply By.
10 0.3 = 3 Multiply the number of feet (10) by the
conversion factor (0.3).
The answer is 3. The size of the space is 3 m. Therefore, you
know that the machine, which is only 2.5 m, will fit in the
space you have available.
The best news about conversion tables is this: You dont have
to memorize them. Just keep a table handy so that when you
must make such conversion, youll know just where to look.
Calculator Applications:
Metric System
In this section youve learned new material about the met-
ric system and how to make conversions between it and the
English system of measurement, but you havent learned any
new operations. All of the conversions involve multiplication
only. Therefore, you should be able to perform them on your
calculator. Before completing the final self-check, take a few
minutes to use your calculator to solve the problems just given.
109
Foreign Currency Exchange
Companies and individuals dealing internationally often need
to convert their countrys currency to another countrys cur-
rency. To do this, you need to know the exchange rate. The
exchange rate is the amount of one currency needed to get
one unit of another currency. The exchange rate changes as
the world market and world situations change. One countrys
currency compared to another countrys currency may change
as often as several times a day, or not change at all for many
years.
The financial section of the newspaper, financial Web sites, and
financial news broadcasts quote the interbank rate, which is
the official exchange rate for $1 million or more. Banks and
large corporations exchange at this rate. People who deal in
currency exchange use this rate as they study money market
fluctuations to make money buying and selling currency.
For individuals and companies using smaller amounts, a fee
or commission is added by whomever is doing the currency
exchange for you. So the exchange will cost more for smaller
amounts. Fortunately, fees and commissions vary, and by
knowing the current interbank rate and shopping around, its
possible to get a rate close to the interbank rate.
The currency youre selling is the currency you started with.
The currency youre buying is the currency you want. By using
the exchange rate, you can calculate approximately how much
the currency youre selling is worth in the currency youre buy-
ing. This is also known as converting currency.
When converting currency in a retail situation while traveling
or for other small exchange purposes, its usually easiest to use
the currency youre most familiar with as the sell currency and
the currency thats foreign to you as the buy currency. In this
way, you need only remember one exchange ratefrom your
currency to the foreign currency.
110
To keep amounts of foreign currency in familiar terms, use
the following formulas:
your currency amount the exchange rate (r) = foreign
currency amount
Example: The exchange rate for U.S. dollars to euros is .69,
so the dollar amount .69 = the euro amount.
Youll remember that the opposite of multiplication is division,
so if you know the foreign currency amount, the formula is
foreign currency amount exchange rate = your currency
amount
Example: The exchange rate for U.S. dollars to euros is .69,
so the euro amount .69 = the dollar amount.
For the following examples, well use the dollar-to-euro
exchange rate of .69. (Note: Fees or commissions wont be
entered into these calculations.)
Example 1: Youre going to Europe and you have to change
500 U.S. dollars into euros. How many euros will you get?
500 dollars .69 = 345 euros
Answer: Youll receive 345 euros.
Example 2: Youre in Europe and want to buy a coat that
costs 150 euros. You know that a good price for the coat is
200 U.S. dollars or less. Is the European price a good price
for the coat?
150 euros .69 = 217.39 dollars
Answer: No, the price is more than 200 dollars.
In the office, currency exchange calculation is usually done
using an online currency exchange calculator or currency
converter to make use of the most current rate. Many cur-
rency converters as well as currency exchange rate charts
can be accessed for free on the Internet.
In a currency converter, youll be directed to type in the
amount of sell currency in one box or field. Then you must
choose the country of the sell currency from a list, and finally
choose the country of the buy currency. Then click the cal-
culate or go button. The program inputs the current
exchange rate and displays your answer.
111
Self-Check 8
1. Use the conversion table to convert the following English units into the given metric units.
Calculate all problems by hand. Round your answers to two decimal places.
a. 10 in. to millimeters _______
b. 60 ft to meters _______
c. 4.5 in. to millimeters _______
d. 12 U.S. quarts to liters _______
e. 25 feet per second to meters per second _______
f. 100 miles to kilometers _______
2. Use the conversion table to convert the following metric units into the given English units.
Round your answers to two decimal places.
a. 12 mm to inches _______
b. 75 km to miles _______
c. 150 m to feet _______
d. 63 square meters to square feet _______
e. 45 meters per second to feet per second _______
f. 9 L (liters) to U.S. quarts _______
3. Youre planning a business trip to England to visit two cities. The information you have says
that the distance between these two cities is 112 km. How far is this in miles?
__________________________________________________________
4. The area of your office is 175 square feet, but the carpeting youre purchasing for it is meas-
ured in square meters. Find how many square meters of carpeting you need for your office.
__________________________________________________________
5. For extra practice, use your calculator to check your answers to these problems.
__________________________________________________________
(Continued)
112
Self-Check 8
6. Suppose youre planning to vacation in Europe and you want to exchange some money for the
trip. The dollar-to-euro exchange rate is 1.23. If you have 650 U.S. dollars, how many euros
will you get?
__________________________________________________________
7. Your friend from Canada is visiting the United States. He wants to exchange 250 Canadian
dollars for U.S. dollars. The Canadian dollars-to-U.S. dollars exchange rate is 1.036. How
many U.S. dollars will your friend get?
__________________________________________________________
113
A
n
s
w
e
r
s
A
n
s
w
e
r
s
Self-Check 1
1 The four main operations used in mathematics are addi-
tion, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
2. False. Theres nothing unique about business math.
3. Step 1: Youre given the beginning balance in a check-
book and the amounts of three checks that have been
deducted from this balance. You must find the amount
in the checkbook after the checks are deducted.
4. Step 2: The balance in the checkbook is $825.63; and
the amounts of the three checks are $25.98, $62.12,
and $111.65.
5. Step 3: The new balance is equal to the beginning balance
less the amount of each of the three checks.
Self-Check 2
1. 9.
2. 10.
3. 11.
4. 12.
5. 13.
6. 14.
7. 15.
8. 16.
98
+ 37
135
28
13
15
16
+ 73
89
13
6
7
22
+ 54
76
12
5
7
7
+ 3
10
16
7
9
5
+ 8
13
18
9
9
4
+ 9
13
12
8
4
7
+ 6
13
427
+ 369
796
9
+ 8
17
243
+ 678
921
Self-Check Answers
114
17. 31. 24 6 4
32. 63 9 7
18. 33. 72 8 = 9
34. 48 6 8
19. 35. 32 4 8
36.
20.
37.
21. 9 8 72
22. 6 7 42
23. 3 9 27
24. 7 0 0
25. 5 1 5
26. 38.
27.
28. 39.
29.
40.
30.
689
236
4134
20670
137800
162,604
)
162 7614
648
1134
1134
0
47
235
16
1410
2350
3760
65
21
65
1300
1365
)
69 13938
138
138
138
0
202
19
4
76
23
3
69
)
23 391
23
161
161
0
17
)
9 4347
36
74
72
27
27
0
483
826
637
189
)
4 248
62
473
384
89
91
79
12
64
31
33
Self-Check Answers
41. To find the total number of pages, you must add together
the number of pages in each manuscript.
You must type 66 pages in all.
42. To find the total number of days, add together the
number of days for each employee.
There will be 30 vacation days taken in July.
43. Subtract the number of accidents after the program
was instituted from the number before the program
was instituted.
There were 29 fewer accidents the year the program was
instituted.
44. Subtract the number of clients for the last year from the
number of clients for this year.
This year the attorney had 27 more clients.
45. Multiply the number of pages by the number of days.
The typist must produce 125 pages each week.
25
5
125
276
249
27
78
49
29
6
4
11
9
30
+
12
18
8
28
66
+
115
46. 9 7 = 63
Recarpeting the department requires 63 square yards.
47. Divide the number of employees by the number of people
in each group.
There will be 17 groups.
48. First find the total number of customers contacted.
Then divide this number by 5 (the number of days).
You contacted an average of 13 customers each day. You
used the mean to average.
)
5 65
5
15
15
0
13
15
12
14
11
13
65
)
25 425
25
175
175
0
17
Self-Check Answers
116
49. More of Candy A will be in the box. You used the mode
method.
50. a. 600
b. 500
c. 6,500
d. 12,900
51. a. 70
b. 90
c. 170
d. 430
52. After you perform each calculation on the calculator,
check your answers against those you did by hand and
against the ones here in the answer key.
Self-Check 3
1. b
2. f
3. a
4. e
5. c
6. g
Self-Check Answers
117
Candy Number Sold
A 100
B 14
C 50
D 6
E 45
Self-Check Answers
118
7. d
8. a. Answer:
Solution:
b. Answer:
Solution:
c. Answer:
Solution:
d. Answer:
Solution:
e. Answer:
Solution:
1
2
1
3
1
6
=
1
6
3
11
20
3
11
20
2
31
20
1
4
5
1
16
20
1
16
20
1
15
20
1
3
4
=
= =
=
=

1
3
4
9
11
7
11
2
11
=
2
11
1
1
5
1
2
10
2
3
10
2
3
10
3
5
10
3
1
2
=
+ = + = =
3
1
2
3
6
2
6
5
6
+ =
5
6
f. Answer:
Solution:
or
g. Answer:
Solution:
h. Answer:
Solution:
i. Answer: 2
Solution:
1
1
2
1
1
3
3
2
4
3
2
1
2
1
1
2
1
= = =
5
9
3
5
9
1
3
5
27
= =
5
27
3
10
6
10
3
10
10
6
1
2
1
1
1
2
= =
1
2
3
5
6
3
1
5
6
15
6
2
3
6
2
1
2
= = = =
3
5
6
3
1
5
6
5
2
2
1
2
1
2
= = =
2
1
2
Self-Check Answers
119
Self-Check Answers
120
j. Answer: 4
Solution:
9.
10. Janet walked
1
/
8
mile farther.
First change the fractions to like fractions.
Subtract the smaller fraction from the larger one.
Janet Nadine
11.
Add the value of each share to the amount of increase.
33
1
8
33
1
8
4
1
4
4
2
8
37
3
8
=
+ = +
$37
3
8
3
8
2
8
1
8
=
3
8
3
8
1
4
2
8
= =
2
7
2
1
2
5
8
5
2
8
5
5
2
8
5
4
1
4
1
1
4
1
= = = =
12. There are 6 employees who eat lunch daily at a
restaurant.
Multiply
1
/
4
by 24.
or
13. square yards
Change both mixed numbers to improper fractions and
multiply.
14. $150
Multiply
1
/
3
by $450.
15. 50 miles per hour
Divide the number of miles (325) by the estimated hours
(6
1
/
2
).
Self-Check 4
1. a.
16
5
8
$ .
.
.
.
$ .
11 23
23 25
31 24
45 42
111 14
+
325 6
1
2
325
1
13
2
325
1
2
13
50
1
50
25
1
= = = =
1
3
450
1
450
3
150 = = $
3
1
2
4
3
4
7
2
19
4
133
8
16
5
8
= = =
1
4
24
1
6
1
6
1
6
= =
1
4
24
1
24
4
6
1
6 = = =
Self-Check Answers
121
b.
c.
d.
2. a.
b.
c.
d.
3.
At the end of the year he would have 396.695 shares.
381 881
14 814
396 695
.
.
.
+
43 000
2 386
3 740
49 126
.
.
.
.
+
0 952
1 570
0 803
3 325
.
.
.
.
+
13 4600
5 0030
0 0321
18 4951
.
.
.
.
+
12 800
27 380
0 562
40 742
.
.
.
.
+
$ .
.
.
.
$ , .
506 78
790 99
867 70
897 09
3 062 56
+
$ .
.
.
.
$ .
89 98
78 67
99 68
67 89
336 22
+
$ .
.
.
.
$ .
404 99
75 01
405 44
40 86
926 30
+
Self-Check Answers
122
4.
The sales representative earned $485.04 in all.
5.
Joan now has $430.00 in her account.
6. a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
$ .
.
$ .
156 25
83 73
72 52
$ .
.
$ .
4 47
1 18
3 29
$ .
.
$ .
6 52
2 37
4 15
$ .
.
$ .
6 50
1 88
4 62
3 76
2 90
0 86
.
.
.
38 9
9 2
29 7
.
.
.
6 2130
1 8219
4 3911
.
.
.
9 5
3 2
6 3
.
.
.
$ .
.
$ .
381 49
48 51
430 00
+
$ .
.
$ .
412 56
72 48
485 04
+
Self-Check Answers
123
7.
The customer would receive $14.83 in change.
8.
The population grew 62.6 persons per square mile.
9. a.
b.
c.
d.
10.
The bread will cost $5.74.
11.
Jan can type 919.5 words in a 15-minute test.
61 3
15
3065
613
919 5
.
.
$ .
.
. $ .
2 39
2 4
956
478
5 736 5 74
=
53 67
0 056
32202
26835
3 00552
.
.
.
0 09
0 02
0018
.
.
.
5 931
7
41 517
.
.
0 34
6
2 04
.
.
191 3
128 7
62 6
.
.
.
$ .
.
$ .
50 00
35 17
14 83
Self-Check Answers
124
12. a.
b.
c.
d.
)
0 57 0 61000
57
400
399
10
1 070
1 07 . .
.
. =
)
3 8 74 3000
38
36 3
34 2
2 10
1 90
200
190
100
76
24
19 552
19 55 . .
.
. =
)
2 3 492 0000
46
32
23
9 0
6 9
2 10
2 07
30
23
70
69
1
213 913
213 91 . .
.
. =
)
25 7 8000
7 5
30
25
50
50
0
3120
31 .
.
. =
Self-Check Answers
125
Self-Check Answers
126
e.
f.
13.
Each issue costs $1.58.
14.
To cover the cost, 125 couples need to attend the dance.
)
40 50 5062 50
4050
1012 5
810 0
202 50
125
202 50
0
. .
.
)
18 28 44
18
104
90
144
144
0
1 58
$ .
.
)
0 99 7 13000
6 93
200
198
200
198
2
7 202
7 20 . .
.
. =
)
0 47 62 40000
47
15 4
141
1 30
94
360
329
310
282
280
235
45
132 765
132 7 . .
.
. = 77
Self-Check Answers
127
Self-Check 5
1. a. 6%
b.
c. 357%
d. 100%
2. a. .43
b. .025
c. .136
d. 5.21
3. a. 73%
b. 2.3%
c. 17.6%
d. 241.5%
4. a.
b.
c
d.
325
100
3
25
100
3
1
4
= =
289
100
2
89
100
=
51
100
3
100
)
8 3 0000
2 4
60
56
40
40
0
3750
37 5
.
.
. % =
Self-Check Answers
128
5. a.
b.
c.
d.
6. a. ?% 5 75
)
75 5 00000
4 50
500
450
500
450
50
06666
.
.
145
2
290
50
042
100
200
2 100
.
.
120
06
7 20
.
.
930
15
4650
930
139 50
.
.
b. ?% 20 28
c. ?% 40 100
d. ?% 50 200
7. a. ? 20 .08
b. ? 30 .75
)
. . 75 30 00
30 0
00
40
)
8 2000
16
40
40
00
250
)
200 50 000
40 0
10 00
10 00
00
250
.
.
)
100 40 00
40 0
0
40
.
.
)
28 20 00000
19 6
40
28
120
112
80
56
240
224
16
71428
.
.
Self-Check Answers
129
Self-Check Answers
130
c. ? 45 20
d. ? 36 1.5
8. First find the amount of sales tax and then add it to the
cost of the item.
You would pay $27.27 for the item.
9. The problem is one of finding the rate. Use the formula
R P B.
R 20 25
Alicia got 80% of the problems correct.
10. a.
$
.
$ .
100
12
200
100
12 00
)
25 20 00
20 0
00
80
.
.
$ .
.
$ .
25 25
08
2 0200
$ .
.
$ .
25 25
2 02
27 27
)
1 5 36 0
30
6 0
6 0
0
24
. .
)
. . 20 45 00
40
5 0
4 0
1 00
1 00
00
225
Self-Check Answers
131
b.
c.
d.
e.
11. List price $1500.00
Remainder after first disco 900.00
Less third discount (10% of 675.00) 67.50
Selling price (answer) $ 607.50
12. Subtract the smaller given amount from the larger given
amount.
$ .
.
$ .
11 75
10 50
1 25
$
.
$ .
150
08
12 00
$ .
.
$ .
72 80
15
36400
7280
10 920
$
.
$ .
60
25
300
120
15 00
$
.
$ .
75
20
15 00
Self-Check Answers
132
Divide the difference by the starting amount and change
the quotient to a percent.
= 11.9%
13. First find the selling price of the radio.
List price $500.00
Less third discount (5% of 315.00) 15.75
Then calculate the discount for paying within 10 days
and subtract this from the selling price.
Finally, add the freight charges. Notice that its F.O.B.
factory, which would mean that you would have to pay
the shipping from the factory to you.
14. First calculate the cost of 20 calculators at $125 each.
Then calculate the price with the 15% discount.
Cost $2500.00
Less discount (15% of 2500) 375.00
Price after discount $2125.00
$
$
125
20
2500
$ .
.
$ .
293 26
62 00
355 26
$ .
.
$ . $ .
299 25
02
5 9850 5 99
=
$ .
.
$ .
299 25
5 99
293 26
)
10 50 1 25000
1 050
2000
1050
9500
119
50
. .
.
9450
Self-Check Answers
133
Since youre paying within 10 days, you can take an
additional 3% discount.
Discounted price $2125.00
Less discount for early payment
(3% of $2125) 63.75
Final price $2061.25
15. Subtract the smaller given amount from the larger given
amount.
amount and change the quotient to a percent.
= 15.38%
Self-Check 6
1.
32 (reg. hrs) 8 256
5 (overtime) (8 1.5) 60
8 (holiday) (8 2) =128
$
$
256
60
128
444
+
grosspay
8
10
10
9
8
45
)
325 50 0000
32 5
17 50
16 25
1 250
975
2750
2600
150
1538
.
.
$
$
325
275
50
Self-Check Answers
134
2. Bridgett: $615 26 (pay periods) $15,990
Jill: $670 24 (pay periods) $16,080
Barb: $300 52 (pay periods) $15,600
Jill earns the most.
3.
Self-Check 7
1. I = P R T
= 1500 .12 3
= $540
2. Exact
I = P R
T
/
365
= 3600 .08
250
/
365
= $197.26
Ordinary
I = P R
T
/
360
= 3600 .08
250
/
360
= $200 (rounded)
3. I = P R T
= 300 .06
1
/
2
= $9.00
300
9
309
$ .
.
$ .
.
687 50
500 00
1187 50
152 75
commission
basesalary
deduction
ss
Net Pay $ . 1034 75
$
.
$ .
13750
05
687 50
$
$
23750
10000
13750
Self-Check Answers
135
I = P R T
= 309 .06
1
/
2
= 9.27
Self-Check 8
1. a. 10 25.4 254 mm
b. 60 0.3 18 m
c. 4.5 25.4 114.3 mm
d. 12 0.946 11.35 L
e. 25 0.3048 7.62 meters per second
f. 100 1.6093 160.93 km
2. a. 12 0.039 .47 in.
b. 75 0.6214 46.61 miles
c. 150 3.28 492 ft
d. 63 10.76 677.88 square feet
e. 45 3.281 147.65 feet per second
f. 9 1.057 9.51 quarts
3. 112 0.6214 69.6 miles
4. 175 0.0929 16.26 square meters
5. Check the answers you get on your calculator against
those you calculated by hand and against the answers
given here.
6. 799.5 euros
7. 259 U.S. dollars
$ .
.
$ .
309 00
9 27
318 27

Math For The Office Professional: Study Unit

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Math for the Office Professional

Math for the Office Professional

Math for the Office Professional

Math for the Office Professional

Math for the Office Professional

FIGURE 13Graphic Representation of Proper and Improper Fractions

Math for the Office Professional

Math for the Office Professional

Math for the Office Professional

To Find: Use the Formula:

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Math for the Office Professional

Math for the Office Professional

Math for the Office Professional

Math for the Office Professional

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Math for the Office Professional

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