SSAT Middle Level Math : How to find the part from the whole

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SSAT Middle Level Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Part From The Whole

It took Julia 15 minutes to walk 1 mile.  If she walks for 2 more miles at the same speed, what part of an hour will her entire 3-mile walk take?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

It will take her 30 more minutes to finish her walk for a total of 45 minutes.  45 minutes of 60 minutes in an hour is the same as .

Example Question #2 : How To Find The Part From The Whole

The sum of the factors of 12 is

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The factors of 12 are 1, 12, 3, 4, 2, and 6.  The sum of them is when you add all of them together. .

Example Question #2 : How To Find The Part From The Whole

There are  children in a class. If  of the children are male, how many of them are female?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

If  are male, then  of the children in the class are female .  

If this is true, then  times the total number of students in the class will give you the number of females.  

Example Question #3 : How To Find The Part From The Whole

The ratio of women to men in a meeting with 56 people is 5 to 3.  How many more women then men are there?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The best way to think about this problem is to divide the total number of people into parts. Since there are 5 parts women to 3 parts men, it's best to divide the total into 8 parts.  Dividing 56 into 8 parts gives you 7.  7 is your multiplier.  Now take your multiplier (7) and multiply it by your ratios.  

This give you  and  or  and .  These are the number of women and men, respectively.  

The difference between 35 and 21 is 14.

Example Question #4 : How To Find The Part From The Whole

Robert's dog is 4 years older than Karen's cat. In 3 years, the sum of the ages of Robert's dog and Karen's cat will be 13. How old is Robert's dog right now?

Possible Answers:

 years old

 years old

 years old

 years old

 years old

Correct answer:

 years old

Explanation:

We can solve this problem by backsolving, meaning plugging in the answer choices. 

If we plug in 7 for the dog's age, that means that in 3 years, the dog will be 10. 

That also means that the cat is 3 since the dog is 4 years older. 

The sum of 10 and 3 is 13, so the answer choice of 7 is the correct answer. 

Example Question #5 : How To Find The Part From The Whole

There are  puppies in obedience training. If  of the puppies are male, how many of them are female?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

If  are male, then  of the puppies in obedience training are female. Because:

 .

Now we can write the following proportion and solve.

Example Question #6 : How To Find The Part From The Whole

The ratio of doctors to nurses in the hospital with a staff of  is  to . How many more nurses than doctors are there?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The best way to think about this problem is to divide the total number of people into parts. Since there are  parts doctors to  parts nurses, it's best to divide the total into  parts. Dividing  into  parts gives you . Therefore,  is your multiplier. Now take your multiplier and multiply it by your ratios.

This gives you  and . These are the number of doctors and nurses, respectively.

To find how many more nurses than doctors there are we take the difference:

Therefore, there are  more nurses than doctors.

Example Question #7 : How To Find The Part From The Whole

Alice received $2.40 for her weekly allowance. If her favorite snacks cost 60¢ each, how many snacks can Alice buy this week?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To solve:

Divide the total amount of Alice's allowance ($2.40) by the price for each snack ($ .60)

Alice would be able to buy 4 snacks.

Example Question #8 : How To Find The Part From The Whole

Steve ate 20% of his pie on Monday.  On Tuesday Steve ate 50% of the left-over pie.  What percent of the pie is left?

Possible Answers:

30%

40%

10%

60%

20%

Correct answer:

40%

Explanation:

On Tuesday, Steve ate 50% (half) of the 80%, which is 40%.  Steve has eaten 20% on Monday and 40% on Tuesday, so there is 40% left over.

Example Question #9 : How To Find The Part From The Whole

As a swim team member, Nicolas needs to train 90 hours a month. How many hours should Nicolas train each day of the 30-day month, in order to reach his goal?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Divide 90 hours by 30 days in the month:

Answer: Nicolas needs to train 3 hours a day.

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