Splitting things between two people unevenly

If two children are to share equally in an inheritance, you just divide the total amount by two. It gets a bit stickier when one person gets more than the other. It strains the family relationship and the mathematics. 

The Problem Henry and Hilda are to share their father s 2.5 million estate. Their father said that Henry is to get 65 percent of the estate and Hilda is to get the other 35 percent. How much does Henry get  

Using proportions, think of Henry s 65 percent as being 65 out of 100, where 100 is the total amount. Write the proportion with x being the unknown 

When writing proportions, put related amounts either horizontally or vertically from one another. Units that are alike should be either across from one another or above and below one another. 

In the problem, the units that are related are the 2,500,000, which is all of the inheritance and the 100 which represents 100 percent or all. The x and the 65 each represent a part of the whole thing. To solve the proportion and determine Henry s share, first reduce across the bottom of the proportion, and then cross-multiply and solve for x. 

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