Question

A patrolman spends 25% every day completing paperwork. The patrolman’s shift each day is 8 hours. How much of his time does he spend doing paperwork each day?

Answer 1

Assuming the man works 8 hours straight without breaks:

25% is the same as 1/4 of something.

So, we just have to figure out what 1/4 (one quarter) of 8 equals.

You can think of it as a pizza cut into 8 slices. One slice is equivalent to one hour for the patrolman.

If we take away 1/2 (half) of the pizza, we have 4 slices, right? Since we start with 8 slices, half of that equals 4 slices. In other words, 50% (half) of the pizza = 4 slices.

Now, 25% (one quarter) of the pizza will equal half of what is left:

If we know that 50%=4 slices (or 4 hours), then 25% must be 2 slices (or 2 hours).

That's it! 25% of 8 hours = 2 hours.

***So, the patrolman spends 2 hours each day completing paperwork.***

Lets check our work:
We know 8 hours (or 8 slices)= 100%
(We know this because
8 slices = 1 whole pizza, or 100% of a pizza. Similarly,
8 hours = 1 whole shift or 100% of the man's shift ).

So

25% + 25% + 25% + 25% = 100%

If 100% of the mans shift = 8 hours:

2+2+2+2 = 8

It checks out!


Hope this helps!