Question 16·Easy·Percentages
Where Do People Get Most of Their Medical Information?
| Source | Percent of those surveyed |
|---|---|
| Doctor | 63% |
| Internet | 13% |
| Magazines/brochures | 9% |
| Pharmacy | 6% |
| Television | 2% |
| Other/none of the above | 7% |
The table above summarizes 1,200 responses to a survey question.
Based on the table, how many of those surveyed get most of their medical information from either a doctor or the Internet?
For SAT questions with tables and percentages, first identify only the rows mentioned in the question and add their percentages. Then, to convert that combined percentage into a number of people, multiply the total number surveyed by the percent written as a decimal or fraction (for example, 76% becomes or ). Do the arithmetic carefully—these are quick points as long as you avoid small calculation slips.
Hints
Focus on the correct rows in the table
Which two sources in the table match “either a doctor or the Internet”? Ignore the other rows for now.
Combine the percentages first
Once you know the two relevant sources, add their percentages together. What percent of all respondents does that give you?
Turn a percentage into a number of people
You know there were 1,200 people surveyed. How do you convert a percentage of 1,200 into an actual count? Think about writing the percent as a decimal or a fraction and multiplying by 1,200.
Check your arithmetic
After setting up your multiplication, carefully do the calculation (or use Desmos) and then pick the answer choice that exactly matches your result.
Desmos Guide
Use Desmos to compute the percentage of 1,200
In Desmos, type either 0.76*1200 or (63+13)/100*1200. The output value shown by Desmos is the number of people who get most of their medical information from either a doctor or the Internet; match that value to the closest answer choice.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the relevant categories
The question asks about people who get most of their medical information from either a doctor or the Internet.
From the table:
- Doctor: 63%
- Internet: 13%
These are the only two categories we need to use.
Combine the relevant percentages
Add the two percentages together to find the total percent of people who use either a doctor or the Internet:
So, 76% of the 1,200 people surveyed get their information from either a doctor or the Internet.
Set up the calculation for 76% of 1,200
To find how many people this represents, calculate 76% of 1,200.
You can write 76% as a decimal or as a fraction .
So the number of people is:
or equivalently
Compute the number of people and match the answer choice
Now multiply:
So, 912 people get most of their medical information from either a doctor or the Internet. This corresponds to answer choice C) 912.