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Accidents in a certain town with about 20% more this year than last year. This year there were 840 accidents. How many accidents were there last year? Would all I do be 840+840(.2)=1,008. Can Somebody explain?

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Let $x$ be the number of accidents last year. This year there were 20% more accidents than last year; in other words, 840 is 120% of $x$. We can write this in an equation as $$ 1.2x = 840 . $$ So what is $x$? Divide both sides by 1.2: $$ x = 840 \div1.2 = 700 , $$ so last year there were around 700 accidents. Use your calculator to find 120% of 700, and verify that it equals 840.