Sure, let's calculate the number of students who were absent step-by-step:
1. Understand the problem: We have a total of 720 students in a school, and we are told that 5% of these students were absent on a rainy day. We need to find out how many students were actually absent.
2. Convert the percentage to a decimal: Percentages are per hundred, so to convert 5% to a decimal, we divide by 100:
[tex]\[
5\% = \frac{5}{100} = 0.05
\][/tex]
3. Calculate the number of absent students: To find 5% of 720, we multiply the total number of students by the decimal form of the percentage:
[tex]\[
\text{Number of absent students} = 720 \times 0.05
\][/tex]
4. Perform the multiplication:
[tex]\[
720 \times 0.05 = 36
\][/tex]
5. State the final answer: Therefore, the number of students who were absent is 36.
So, 36 students were absent on that rainy day.
