If 40% of a number is 56 what was the original number

Quick translate "x is 12 units from 20" into an equation. what are the values of x being described? if you can answer any of my other questions that'd be great too

Asmall (but heavy) particle placed in a glass of water will follow a zigzag motion because the particle will bounce off of the water molecules it meets. this is called brownian motion. a physicist simulates this on a computer, by varying the distance a particle can travel (called the mean free length), on average, before it collides with a water molecule and assigning the change in motion to be one of 8 directions, each with a similar probability. by running the simulated particle (with the same mean free length) many times she determines that it should take 15 seconds, on average, for the particle to fall to the bottom, with a standard deviation of 1.5 seconds. next she lets a real particle fall through a glass of water and finds that it took 18 seconds. what does she conclude, and why?

Aman is 6 feet 3 inches tall. the top of his shadow touches a fire hydrant that is 13 feet 6 inches away. what is the angle of elevation from the base of the fire hydrant to the top of the man's head?