5 is 10% of what number?
Understand the Problem
The question is asking what number has 5 as 10% of its value. We'll need to determine the original whole number given that 5 represents only a tenth of it.
Answer
$50$
Answer for screen readers
$50$
Steps to Solve
- Set up the equation
Let $x$ be the unknown number we are trying to find. We are told that 10% of $x$ is equal to 5. We can write this as:
$0.10x = 5$
- Solve for $x$
To solve for $x$, we need to divide both sides of the equation by $0.10$:
$x = \frac{5}{0.10}$
- Calculate the value of x
$x = 50$
$50$
More Information
10% is also equivalent to $\frac{1}{10}$. So we can rephrase the problem to say, "5 is $\frac{1}{10}$ of what number?".
Tips
A common mistake is to multiply 5 by 10% (0.10), which would give 0.5. This is incorrect because we need to find the original number, not 10% of 5.
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