Over the past week, 34 baby boys were born at the hospital. This was 54% of all babies born. How many girls were born over the past week?

Question

How would that look as a equation?

Answer 1

Let the total number of babies born over the past week be x.

54%of x=34

0.54x=34

x=34/0.54=62.96 =63 (rounding to the nearest ones digit)

The number of girls =63-34=29

Answer 2

If B is the total number of babies, then 34=0.54B. So B=34/0.54. The number of girls is B-0.54B=0.46B=0.46×34/0.54=28.96, which rounds to 29 girls. This is a simple proportion problem.