Bunuel
Tough and Tricky questions: Percents.
Approximately what percentage of the world’s forested area is represented by Finland given that Finland has 53.42 million hectares of forested land of the world’s 8.076 billion hectares of forested land.
A) 0.0066%
B) 0.066%
C) 0.66%
D) 6.6%
E) 66%
Kudos for a correct solution.Source: Chili Hot GMAT
Official Solution:Approximately what percentage of the world’s forested area is represented by Finland given that Finland has 53.42 million hectares of forested land of the world’s 8.076 billion hectares of forested land.A) 0.0066%
B) 0.066%
C) 0.66%
D) 6.6%
E) 66%
ApproximationApproximation is a strategy that helps us arrive at less than an exact number and the inclusion in this problem of the word “approximately” is an obvious clue. First, 8.076 billion is 8,076 million. Next, 8,076 million rounds to 8,000 million and 53.42 million rounds to 53 million. Dividing 53 million by 8,000 million we arrive at 0.0066 (53M/8,000M). We convert this decimal figure to a percentage by multiplying by 100 (or moving the decimal point two places to the right) and adding a percent sign in order to obtain our answer of 0.66%. Note that the shortcut method involves comparing 53 million to 1% of 8,000 million or 80 million. Since 53 million is approximately two-thirds of 80 million then the answer is some two-thirds of 1% or 0.66%.
Answer: C.