In a class , 7/9 of the students wore wrist watches and 16 didn't. How many students were in the class?

2/9 x = 16

x = 9 * 16 / 2

we assume that 16 represents 2/9 of the student in the class, and since 16 = 2/9, that means 8 = 1/9, which means 8*9 is the total number of students in the class.