Problem of the Week - Middle School - Feb. 14, 2021 to Feb. 20, 2021

Middle School: 

Question: An anemone catches 10 pounds of food over the course of a week and consumes 62.5% of it. A school of clownfish that lives with the anemones eat 3/8 of the anemone's uneaten prey. What percentage of the anemone's food goes uneaten? 

Answer:  23.4375%­­

Solution:  Since 62.5% of the anemone’s prey is eaten, that means 100% – 62.5% = 37.5% of it is not eaten. The clownfish eat ³/₈ of the leftovers, so they leave 1 – ³/₈ = ⁵/₈ uneaten. So, since ⁵/₈ = 62.5%, we need to find 62.5% of 37.5%. We do that by multiplying 0.625 × 0.375 = 0.234375 = 23.4375%.