Expert: Lynn Houston - 6/13/2009

Question
Hello:

Here is my question and solution. Can you reply indicating whether or not it is correct?

Express 12.5 mills as a decimal part of $1.00.

1000 mills equals $1.00.
I converted the $1.00 to mills. The amount would be 1000 mills. I then determined what part, either decimal or fractional, 12.5 mills is of 1000 mills.
The calculation would look like this: 12.5 is ? part of 1000 mills.
Divide 12.5 mills by 1000 mills and the answer in decimal form is 0.0125.
The 12.5 mills could be converted to dollars instead of converting $1.00 to 1000 mills. (12.5 mills divided by 1000 mills/$1.00)

12.5 mills would be $0.0125. The calculation becomes: $0.0125 is ? part of $1.00.
$0.0125/$1.00 = 0.0125 the answer in decimal form. If the fractional form in desired, it would be 125/10000 or 1/80.

Does any of the above make sense?

I thank you for your reply.


Answer
I believe your answer is correct.  My process was this.  I first figured out, what is one mill worth.  One mill = .001, therefore, 12.5 mills = .0125 (same thing you ended up with, slightly different route).  Then the question is, how many times does .0125 go into $1.00.  That's 80, so 12.5 mills is 1/80 of $1.00