It is estimated that the total time Americans will spend on taxes this year is 7.8 billion hours! According to the White House budget office, tax work accounts for approximately 80% of the paperwork burden of the federal government. If 7.8 billion hours is 80% of the total time spent on federal government paperwork, how many hours are equivalent to 50% of the total time spent on federal government paperwork?

Respuesta :

Answer:

4.875 billion hours

Step-by-step explanation:

-Let X be the total time spent on taxes and 7.8 billion (80%) is time on paper work.

#We equate and cross multiply to get the total time on taxes:

[tex]0.8=7.8\\1=X\\\\\therefore X=\frac{1\times 7.8}{0.8}\\\\\\=9.75[/tex]

-let y be the 50% amount of time spent. we equate to find it in actual hours:

[tex]1=9.75\\0.5=y\\\\y=\frac{9.75\times 0.5}{1}\\\\=4.875[/tex]

Hence, 50% of the time is equivalent to 4.875 billion hours