In a given population of men and women, 30% of the men are married and 40% of the women are married. What percentage of the adult population is married? Assume that in this particular population the number of married men is the same as the number of married women.
Math homework help!
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Steven G
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Can you please tell us where you are stuck? It is hard to help you if we do not know what you need help with. For example you might need help at the end so it would not help if I were to tell you the first step. Did you read the guidelines for the forum which states that to receive help that you need to post your work even if it is wrong? At least this way we see the method you want to use. Please post back.
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Hello, and welcome to FMH! 
I would let \(M\) be the number of men, and \(W\) be the number of women. If 30% of the men are married, and 40% of the women are married, and the number of married men is the same as the number of married women, how can we state this mathematically?
I would let \(M\) be the number of men, and \(W\) be the number of women. If 30% of the men are married, and 40% of the women are married, and the number of married men is the same as the number of married women, how can we state this mathematically?
Harry_the_cat
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Can we still assume this since gay marriage is legal in a lot of places?
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And the whole population is divided into men and women only!
HallsofIvy
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The problem says explicitly "Assume that in this particular population the number of married men is the same as the number of married women."
Suppose we have 100 men. Then 30% of them, 30, are married and, since we are told that "the number of married men is the same as the number of married women", there are 30 married women. That is 40% the number of women so there are 30/.4= 75 women. That makes a total of 175 people, 60 of whom are married.
Suppose we have 100 men. Then 30% of them, 30, are married and, since we are told that "the number of married men is the same as the number of married women", there are 30 married women. That is 40% the number of women so there are 30/.4= 75 women. That makes a total of 175 people, 60 of whom are married.
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Hello, and welcome to FMH!
I would let \(M\) be the number of men, and \(W\) be the number of women. If 30% of the men are married, and 40% of the women are married, and the number of married men is the same as the number of married women, how can we state this mathematically?
I would proceed by writing:
[MATH]0.3M=0.4W\implies M=\frac{4}{3}W[/MATH]
Now, the percentage \(P\) of the adults married is then:
[MATH]P=100\%\cdot\frac{0.3M+0.4W}{M+W}=100\%\cdot\frac{3M+4W}{10(M+W)}=100\%\cdot\frac{4W+4W}{10\left(\dfrac{4}{3}W+W\right)}=100\%\cdot\frac{8}{10\left(\dfrac{7}{3}\right)}100\%\cdot\frac{12}{35}=\frac{240}{7}\%[/MATH]
firemath
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Because we are all imperfect....some people more than others.....
HallsofIvy
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Well, I didn't want to use numbers that would be too big for you!
30%+40%=70%. Assuming population began at 100%, married and unmarried. Are you trying to find out how many men and women there are married in numbers? Like, 50 men making up 30% of the married population?