A head nurse borrowed 35 syringes from the ICU. If this was 20% of the ICU's total supply, how many syringes did the ICU have in total?

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Multiple Choice

A head nurse borrowed 35 syringes from the ICU. If this was 20% of the ICU's total supply, how many syringes did the ICU have in total?

Explanation:
The main idea here is that 35 syringes represent 20% of the ICU’s total supply. To find the whole, divide the part by the percent written as a decimal: 0.20. So total = 35 ÷ 0.20 = 175. Quick check: 20% of 175 is 0.20 × 175 = 35, which matches. The other numbers don’t fit because they’d give different 20% values (for example, 20% of 70 is 14; 20% of 135 is 27; 20% of 700 is 140). So 175 is the correct total.

The main idea here is that 35 syringes represent 20% of the ICU’s total supply. To find the whole, divide the part by the percent written as a decimal: 0.20. So total = 35 ÷ 0.20 = 175. Quick check: 20% of 175 is 0.20 × 175 = 35, which matches. The other numbers don’t fit because they’d give different 20% values (for example, 20% of 70 is 14; 20% of 135 is 27; 20% of 700 is 140). So 175 is the correct total.

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