Multiply or Divide?  🤔

A 10-second rule for fraction & percentage word problems.

"OF" the whole → ✖️ MULTIPLY
"Whole is missing" → ➗ DIVIDE
Ask one question first: Do I already have the TOTAL?

✖️ MULTIPLY

You HAVE the whole. You want a PART.
Find 3/4 of 24.
24 is the whole (you have it).
You want a piece → multiply:
24 ÷ 4 = 6, then 6 × 3 = 18.
(Same as 24 × 3/4 = 18.)

➗ DIVIDE

You have a PART. You want the WHOLE.
1/4 of a bag is 5 lollies. Total?
5 is just a piece (the whole is missing).
Undo the fraction:
5 × 4 = 20 lollies.
(Same as 5 ÷ 1/4 = 20.)

Before you write anything — 3 steps

  1. Find the WHOLE (the total amount) in the story.
  2. Ask: "Do I already have it?"
  3. YES → ✖️ multiply by the fraction.
    NO → ➗ divide (or × the bottom number) to get it back.

You try! — Tap each one to see the answer

tap to reveal
"What is 25% of 80?"
MULTIPLYYou have the whole (80), you want a part → 80 × 25% = 20.
tap to reveal
"20% of a number is 30. What is the number?"
DIVIDEYou have a part (30), the whole is missing → 30 ÷ 20% = 150.
tap to reveal
"A $60 bike is 25% off. How much do you pay?"
MULTIPLYYou have the whole ($60), you want the part you pay (75%) → 60 × 0.75 = $45.
tap to reveal
"After spending 1/3, I have $40 left. I started with?"
DIVIDE$40 is the part left (2/3), the start is missing → 40 ÷ 2 × 3 = $60.
Remember: A percentage is just a fraction over 100. So 25% = 25/100 = 1/4. The SAME rule works — have the whole → multiply; whole missing → divide. When a problem says "of", that is your signal to multiply.