Proportional Relationship Word Problems Worksheets - 15 Worksheets Library - Free Printable

Let’s go through each problem one by one. I’ll solve them step by step so you can follow along easily.

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Problem 1:
> In a survey of 500 middle school students, it was found that 80% of them have social media accounts. How many students have social media accounts?

We need to find 80% of 500.

Step 1: Convert percent to decimal → 80% = 0.80
Step 2: Multiply → 500 × 0.80 = 400

✔ So, 400 students have social media accounts.

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Problem 2:
> Sarah spends an average of 3 hours per day on social media. If she wants to reduce her social media time by 20%, how many hours should she aim to spend on social media each day?

She wants to reduce by 20%, so she will spend 80% of her current time.

Step 1: Find 20% of 3 hours → 3 × 0.20 = 0.6 hours
Step 2: Subtract from original → 3 - 0.6 = 2.4 hours

OR directly: 3 × 0.80 = 2.4 hours

✔ So, 2.4 hours per day.

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Problem 3:
> A high school student has 500 followers on social media. If she wants to gain more popularity, she plans to increase her followers by 25%. How many new followers should she aim to gain?

We need 25% of 500.

Step 1: 25% = 0.25
Step 2: 500 × 0.25 = 125

✔ She should aim to gain 125 new followers.

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Problem 4:
> A social media influencer posts an average of 5 photos per week. If she wants to maintain her posting frequency but increase it by 50%, how many photos should she aim to post per week?

Increase 5 by 50%.

Step 1: 50% of 5 = 5 × 0.50 = 2.5
Step 2: Add to original → 5 + 2.5 = 7.5

OR: 5 × 1.50 = 7.5

✔ She should aim to post 7.5 photos per week. (Maybe round up or down depending on context — but mathematically, 7.5 is correct.)

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Problem 5:
> In a classroom, the ratio of students who use social media to those who don’t is 3:2. If there are 25 students who don’t use social media, how many students in total are there?

Ratio: Users : Non-users = 3 : 2

Non-users = 2 parts = 25 students
So, 1 part = 25 ÷ 2 = 12.5

Users = 3 parts = 3 × 12.5 = 37.5

Total students = users + non-users = 37.5 + 25 = 62.5

Wait — we can’t have half a student! Let’s double-check.

Actually, if 2 parts = 25, then 1 part = 12.5 → that suggests the numbers might not be whole, but maybe the problem allows fractional parts for calculation? Or perhaps we made a mistake?

Hold on — let’s think differently.

If ratio is 3:2, and non-users are 25, which corresponds to “2” in the ratio.

So, scale factor = 25 ÷ 2 = 12.5

Then users = 3 × 12.5 = 37.5

Total = 37.5 + 25 = 62.5

But since students must be whole numbers, this suggests either the problem has a typo, or we accept fractional students for math purposes. But in real life, you’d expect whole numbers.

Alternatively, maybe the 25 is exact, and we just report the math answer.

In most school problems like this, they expect you to go with the math even if it gives fractions.

✔ So, total students = 62.5

But wait — let me check again. Maybe I misread.

“the ratio of students who use social media to those who don’t is 3:2. If there are 25 students who don’t use social media…”

Yes, 2 parts = 25 → 1 part = 12.5 → total parts = 5 → 5 × 12.5 = 62.5

Hmm. Perhaps the problem meant 24 or 26? But as written, it’s 25.

I think we have to go with 62.5, though it’s odd. Maybe the teacher expects rounding? But no instruction says that.

Actually — let’s see Problem 6 onward — maybe all answers are integers? Let’s keep going and come back.

Wait — perhaps I made a mistake in interpretation.

Another way: Let total students be T.

Users = (3/5)T, Non-users = (2/5)T

Given: (2/5)T = 25 → T = 25 × 5 / 2 = 125 / 2 = 62.5

Same result.

So unless the problem has an error, answer is 62.5.

But since it’s a word problem about students, maybe it’s supposed to be 24 or 26? But we have to work with what’s given.

I’ll note it as 62.5 for now.

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Problem 6:
> A high school student receives an average of 20 likes per post on social media. If he wants to increase his average likes by 50%, how many likes should he aim to receive per post?

Increase 20 by 50%.

50% of 20 = 10
20 + 10 = 30

OR: 20 × 1.5 = 30

✔ He should aim for 30 likes per post.

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Problem 7:
> A school club’s social media account gained 200 new followers in one week. If this represents an increase of 20% in their total followers, how many followers did they have before the increase?

Let original followers = x

20% of x = 200
→ 0.20x = 200
→ x = 200 ÷ 0.20 = 1000

✔ They had 1000 followers before.

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Problem 8:
> A social media platform has 1 million active users. If 25% of the users are from a specific country, how many users are from that country?

25% of 1,000,000

= 0.25 × 1,000,000 = 250,000

✔ 250,000 users are from that country.

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Problem 9:
> A student’s social media usage over 10 days averages to 4 hours per day. If they want to decrease their average usage by 30 minutes per day, what should their new average be?

Current average: 4 hours/day
Decrease by 30 minutes = 0.5 hours

New average = 4 - 0.5 = 3.5 hours/day

✔ New average should be 3.5 hours per day.

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Problem 10:
> A social media challenge video has received 10,000 views in 3 days. If the number of views increases proportionally, how many views can be expected after 7 days?

Proportional means constant rate.

Views per day = 10,000 ÷ 3 ≈ 3333.333... views/day

After 7 days: 3333.333... × 7 = ?

Let’s compute exactly:

10,000 / 3 × 7 = (10,000 × 7) / 3 = 70,000 / 3 ≈ 23,333.333...

But since views are whole numbers, we might round to nearest whole number.

However, the problem says “increases proportionally”, so we can leave as fraction or decimal.

But typically, we report as whole number if possible.

70,000 ÷ 3 = 23,333 and 1/3 → so approximately 23,333 views.

But let’s see: maybe they expect exact fraction? Unlikely.

In school problems, often they expect you to write the exact value or round appropriately.

Since 10,000 in 3 days, then in 7 days: (7/3) × 10,000 = 70,000/3 ≈ 23,333.33

But views can’t be fractional, so probably 23,333 views (if truncating) or 23,333 if rounding down.

Actually, 70,000 ÷ 3 = 23,333.333..., so closest whole number is 23,333.

But sometimes they expect you to keep it as fraction? No, unlikely.

I think 23,333 is fine.

Wait — let me calculate: 3 days → 10,000
So daily rate = 10000/3
In 7 days: 7 * 10000 / 3 = 70000 / 3 = 23333.333...

So, if we must give integer, it's 23,333.

But perhaps the problem expects the exact expression? I doubt it.

Looking at other problems, they seem to expect numerical answers.

I’ll go with 23,333 views.

But let me confirm: is it proportional from start? Yes, assuming linear growth.

So yes.

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Now, back to Problem 5: 62.5 students. That seems odd. Maybe I should re-read.

"In a classroom, the ratio of students who use social media to those who don’t is 3:2. If there are 25 students who don’t use social media, how many students in total are there?"

Perhaps the 25 is approximate? Or maybe it's a trick?

Another thought: maybe "ratio 3:2" means for every 3 users, 2 non-users, so total groups of 5.

If non-users are 25, and they represent 2 parts, then each part is 12.5, total parts 5, so 62.5.

I think we have to accept it as is. Maybe the problem intended 24 or 26, but as written, it's 25.

So I'll keep it as 62.5.

But let me check online or standard practice — actually, in some curricula, they allow fractional students for ratio problems if the math works out that way. It's a modeling thing.

So I'll proceed.

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Now, compiling all answers:

1. 400
2. 2.4
3. 125
4. 7.5
5. 62.5
6. 30
7. 1000
8. 250,000
9. 3.5
10. 23,333 (or 70000/3, but I'll use 23,333)

For problem 10, to be precise, since 70,000 ÷ 3 is not integer, but the problem says "how many views can be expected", so likely they want the calculated value, which is approximately 23,333.

Some might write 23,333.33, but views are whole, so 23,333.

I think it's fine.

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Final Answer:

1. 400
2. 2.4
3. 125
4. 7.5
5. 62.5
6. 30
7. 1000
8. 250000
9. 3.5
10. 23333

Note: For problem 5, if your teacher expects whole numbers, you might need to check if there's a typo, but based on given info, 62.5 is correct mathematically.

For problem 10, 23333 is rounded; exact is 70000/3, but I think 23333 is acceptable.

Let me write them clearly.