Question

Students who attend Washington middle school are either in seventh or eighth grade. At the end of the first semester 25% of the students at Washington middle school were on the honor roll. Seventh graders represent 60% of the students on the honor roll. If 124 students on the honor roll were in eighth grade, how many students it in Washington middle school?

Answer 1

There are 1240 students at Washington middle school.

Explanation:

Percentages and Portions

We can find portions of a whole by correctly managing the percentages of each part. We know 25% of all students at Washington middle school were on the honor roll. From that portion, 60% of the students are seventh graders. That means 40% of the 25% are eight graders, i.e. 40*25%=10% were from eight grade.

We have 10% of all students are 124, thus the number of students are 124/10%=1240

There are 1240 students at Washington middle school.

Let's test the answer. 25% of 1240 students are on the honor roll, which is 310 students. 40% of 310 students are from 8th grade, 40%*310 = 124 as stated in the problem