there are 50 states, NY is the 27th largest so before NY there are other 26 states that are larger than NY.
if we take 50 to be the 100%, what is 26 off of it in percentage?
[tex]\bf \begin{array}{ccll} amount&\%\\ \cline{1-2} 50&100\\ 26&x \end{array}\implies \cfrac{50}{26}=\cfrac{100}{x}\implies \cfrac{25}{13}=\cfrac{100}{x}\implies 25x=1300 \\\\\\ x=\cfrac{1300}{25}\implies x=52[/tex]