1. **State the problem:** Ruth bought a canoe originally priced at $141, but it was marked down to $87. We need to find the discount as a percentage. 2. **Formula for discount percentage:** $$\text{Discount Percentage} = \left(\frac{\text{Original Price} - \text{Sale Price}}{\text{Original Price}}\right) \times 100\%$$ 3. **Calculate the discount amount:** $$141 - 87 = 54$$ 4. **Calculate the discount fraction:** $$\frac{54}{141}$$ 5. **Simplify the fraction if possible:** $$\frac{\cancel{54}}{\cancel{141}}$$ (Here, 54 and 141 do not have a common factor other than 3, so dividing numerator and denominator by 3:) $$\frac{54 \div 3}{141 \div 3} = \frac{18}{47}$$ 6. **Convert the fraction to a decimal:** $$\frac{18}{47} \approx 0.3830$$ 7. **Convert to percentage:** $$0.3830 \times 100\% = 38.30\%$$ 8. **Round to the nearest percent:** $$38.30\% \approx 38\%$$ **Final answer:** The discount is approximately **38%**.