Percent
Percent
Percent
EDITION 2/2022
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Introduction .................................................................... 5
Percent ............................................................................ 7
What Percentage…? ..................................................... 11
Percentage of a Number (Mental Math) ..................... 13
Percentage of a Number: Using Decimals ................... 16
Discounts ........................................................................ 19
Practice with Percent .................................................... 21
Finding the Total When the Percentage Is Known ... 24
Review: Percent ............................................................ 26
Percentage Basics ......................................................... 28
Solving Basic Percentage Problems ............................ 31
Percent Equations ........................................................ 34
Circle Graphs ............................................................... 39
Percentage of Change ................................................... 41
Percentage of Change: Applications ........................... 44
Comparing Values Using Percentages ........................ 48
Simple Interest .............................................................. 52
Final Review ......................................................... 58
Answers ......................................................................... 61
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1. Write the shaded part and the unshaded part as fractions, as decimals and as percentages.
a. shaded b. shaded
unshaded unshaded
28
a. 28% = = 0.28 b. 17% = = ________ c. _______% = = 0.89
100
5
d. 60% = = ________ e. _______% = = ________ f. _______% = = 0.08
100
3. Typically, seven out of every 100 babies born in the River Creek Hospital have a birth defect, most of them
minor defects.
c. About how many babies with birth defects would you expect to find in a group of 500 babies?
d. About how many babies with birth defects would you expect to find in a group of 1,300 babies?
What part of the pencils are short? Let’s rewrite 2/5 with a denominator of 100
using the method for equivalent fractions:
· 20
4. Write what part of the pencils are short, both as a fraction and as a percentage. Use equivalent fractions.
5. Convert the fractions into equivalent fractions with a denominator of 100, and then write them as percentages.
4 11 8
a. = = ______% b. = = ______% c. = = ______%
10 100 20 100 10 100
3 6 4
d. = = ______% e. = = ______% f. = = ______%
20 100 25 100 5 100
6. Write what part of the rectangle is shaded and what part is not shaded, both as fractions and percentages.
a. b. c.
We can use percentages that are more than 100%. Just remember that 100% is 1, and 1% is 0.01.
200 308
200% = = 2 308% = = 3.08
100 100
506 482
d. ____% = = ______ e. ____% = = _____ f. _____% = = 3.11
100 100
a. About 4/5 ( _________ %) of the population of the United States is 14 years old or older.
c. The continent of Africa covers about 1/5 ( _________ %) of the Earth’s total land mass.
10. There are two trees growing in Sandy’s front yard. The taller one is 5/4 as tall as the shorter one.
a. Write the second sentence using a percentage instead of a fraction.
b. If the shorter tree is 160 cm tall, how tall is the taller tree?
11. Write the fractions as percentages. Use long division. Round your answers to the nearest percent.
12. Write the fractions as percentages. Round the answers to the nearest percent.
b. In that same year, about 13/100 ( ________ %) of the population of Australia was 65 years old or older.
c. The Indian Ocean covers approximately 7/50 ( ________ %) of the Earth’s surface.
Look carefully at the questions above. Notice that the problems don’t tell you the percentage; in other
words, there is no number in the problem written as x%. Instead, they ask you to find it!
Asking “What percentage?” or “How many percent?” is the same as asking “How many hundredth parts?”
We can solve these questions in a two-part process:
1. First find out the part that is being asked for as a fraction. The denominator will probably not be 100.
2. Convert that fraction to a decimal. Then you can easily convert the decimal to a percentage!
Example 1. A choir has 22 women and 18 men. Find what percentage of the choir’s members are men.
1. Find what part (fraction) of the choir’s members are men. That is 18/40, or 9/20.
2. Write 9/20 as a percentage. You can use equivalent fractions: 9/20 = 45/100 = 45%.
Example 2. One pair of jeans costs $25 and another costs $28.
How many percent is the price of the cheaper jeans of the price of the more expensive jeans?
1. Write what part (fraction) the cheaper price is of the more expensive price. The answer is 25/28.
2. Write 25/28 as a percentage. A calculator gives 25/28 = 0.8928…
Rounded to the nearest whole percent, that is 89%.
1. a. What percentage of the height of a 4-m tree is the height of a little 1-m sapling?
2. Find how many percent the shorter object’s height is of the taller object’s height.
6m 8m 300 cm 120 cm 4m 5m
a. b. c.
4. Write the approximate percentages into the sectors in the circle graphs. Think of fractions!
a. b. c.
5. The circle graph at the right gives the angle measure of each sector
of the circle. Find what percentage each sector is of the whole circle.
Lastly, write that percentage in the sector in the image. Remember, the
whole circle is 360°.
Hint: Think what percentage 117° is of 360°.
6. Nine hundred sixty people gathered at a medical conference. Of them, 450 were
doctors, 220 were nurses and the rest were researchers. Find what percentage of
the people were doctors, what percentage were nurses and what percentage were
researchers.
Since one percent means “a hundredth part,” calculating a percentage of a quantity is the same thing as
finding a fractional part of it. So percentages are really fractions!
How much is 1% of 200 kg? This means how much is 1/100 of 200 kg? It is simply 2 kg.
To find 1% of something (1/100 of something), divide by 100.
Do you remember how to divide by 100 in your head? Just move the decimal point two places to the left.
For example, 1% of 540 is 5.4, and 1% of 8.30 is 0.083.
3. One percent of Mother’s paycheck is $22. How much is her total paycheck?
1% of the number
2% of the number
1
50% is . To find 50% of a number, divide by _______. 50% of 244 is _________.
2
1
10% is . To find 10% of a number, divide by ________. 10% of 47 is __________.
1
1% is . To find 1% of a number, divide by ________. 1% of 530 is __________ .
To find 20%, 30%, 40%, 60%, 70%, 80%, or 90% of a number, 10% of 120 is __________.
• First find __________% of the number, and 30% of 120 is __________.
• then multiply by 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, or 9.
60% of 120 is __________.
b. How much money does he have left after paying the tax?
9. Identify the errors that these children made. Then find the correct answers.
11. Fill in the mental math method for finding 12% of $65.
10% of $65 is $__________. 1% of $65 is $___________. 2% of $65 is $___________.
12. Fill in the mental math shortcut for finding 24% of 44 kg.
25% of 44 kg is __________ kg. 1% of 44 kg is ___________ kg.
13. From her cell phone bill, Hannah sees that of the 340 text messages
she sent last month, 15% were sent during the night at a cheaper rate.
How many messages did Hannah send at night? During the day?
14. A herd of 40 horses had some bay, some chestnut and some white
horses. Thirty percent of them are bay, and 45% are chestnut.
How many horses are white?
15. A college has 1,500 students, and 12% of them ride the bus.
Another 25% walk to the college.
How many students do not do either?
1. “Translate” the expressions into multiplications by a decimal. Solve, using mental math.
d. 60% of $8 e. 9% of 3,000 f. 7% of 40 L
b. Find the length (in km) of the shoreline that is sandy beach.
11. The table below shows Andy’s usage of time in one day.
a. Calculate the time he spent doing each activity. Round the minutes to the nearest minute.
b. Label the sections in the circle graph with the name of each activity.
A laptop that costs $600 is 20% off. What is the sale price?
Method 1. We calculate 20% of $600. That is the discounted amount in dollars.
Then we subtract that from the original price, $600.
20% of $600 is $120. And $600 − $120 = $480. So the sale price is $480.
Method 2. Since 20% of the price has been removed, 80% of the price is left.
By calculating 80% of the original price, you will get the new discounted price: 0.8 · $600 = $480
1. Calculate the discount amount as a percentage 2. Find what percentage of the price is left. Then
of the original price. Then subtract. calculate that percentage of the normal price.
1. All of these items are on sale. Calculate the discount in dollars and the resulting sale price.
5. Which is a better deal? Estimate using rounded numbers and mental math.
a. 75% off of a brand-name mp3 player that costs $199
OR an equivalent off-brand mp3 player for $44.99.
6. A company sells an app for $9.99. They estimate they would sell
50 copies of it in a week, with that price. If they discount
the price by 25%, they think they could sell 100 copies.
Estimate which way they would earn the most money.
Example 3. A pair of shoes costing $50 is discounted and now costs only $35. What is the discount
percentage?
Think about what fraction of the price “disappeared.” Then, write that fraction as a percentage.
We see that $15 of the price “went away.” The fraction of the price that was taken off is thus 15/50.
Now we simply rewrite 15/50 as 30/100, which is, as a percentage, 30%. So it was discounted by 30%.
8. Which of these methods work for calculating a discounted price of 25% off of $46?
$46 $46 $46 $46
0.25 · $46 0.75 · $46 $46 − $46 − ·3
25 4 4 4
If the percentage is known, and the total is known: If the percentage is unknown:
(What is x% of y?) (“What percentage?” / “How many percent?”)
1. Write the percentage as a decimal. 1. Write the part asked for as a fraction.
2. Multiply that decimal and the number. 2. Convert the fraction to a
decimal → percentage.
Or use mental math tricks for finding 1%, 10%,
20%, 30%, 25%, 50%, 75%, etc. of a number.
a. Jack made 17 baskets out of 20 shots. b. Jack made baskets on 56% of 50 shots.
Jack made baskets on , or _______%, of his shots. Jack made ________ baskets in all.
c. Of 25 women surveyed, 60% like chocolate. d. 42 out of 200 citizens voted for Mr. X.
Of those 25, ______ women like chocolate. ______% of the citizens voted for Mr. X.
e. Of 1,000 boxes, 620 contained books. f. Out of 50 participants, 14% came late.
_________% of the boxes contained books. So, _________ participants came late.
a. 15/40 of the workers are over 50. OR 15/100 of the workers are over 50.
In problems 5-7, you can draw a diagram to help you solve the problem.
6. Jerry painted 15 meters of fence out of the 25 meters that need to be painted.
What percentage of the job did he do?
(Round your answer to a whole percent.)
a. b. c.
10. Two college students, Peter and Jake, share a room. The rent is $450 per month, and they
share the rent equally. Peter earns $900 a month, and Jake earns $1,350.
b. Now find what percentage of his earnings each boy uses for the rent.
11. a. Without calculating, determine which is more money: 11% of $402 or 12% of $298?
Explain how you figured it out.
12. The Roberts family drove a 1,920-kilometer trip in four days. On the
first day they drove 544 km, on the second day 448 km, on the third
day 640 km, and on the fourth day the rest of the way.
b. For each day, find what percentage of the total trip they drove.
c. Suppose the family had divided the trip into four equal portions
and driven the same distance each day. What percentage of the
total trip would they have driven each day?
Example 1. If 32 red marbles make up 4/5 of the total number of marbles, how many marbles are
there in all?
Look at the bar model. We have drawn the marbles as
divided into 5 equal “blocks.” Four of those five blocks
make up a total of 32 marbles. So, one block, or 1/5 of
the marbles, is 8 marbles. From that it is easy to calculate the total: 5 · 8 = 40 marbles.
The same reasoning works if the part of the marbles is given as a percentage instead of as a fraction:
Example 2. If 91 red marbles is 35% of the total number of marbles, how many marbles are there in all?
In the model, we need 100 little “blocks” with 35 of them colored (since 35/100 of the marbles are red.)
The calculation is done the same way: If 35 “blocks” or 35% make up 91 marbles, then one “block”, or one
percent, is 91 ÷ 35 = 2.6. Then, to find the total, simply multiply that number by 100: 2.6 · 100 = 260.
1. Margie gave away 40 marbles, which was 20% of the marbles that she had.
How many marbles did Margie have at first?
Hint: Instead of 100 blocks, you can use 5 blocks, each representing 20% or 1/5.
3. When Eric bought a guitar for $90, he used up 12% of the money he had.
How much money did he have at first?
6. Joe spent 72% of his money, and now he has $56 left.
How much did Joe have to begin with?
7. Crystal spent 52% of her money and now she has $120 left.
How much did she spend?
8. Uncle Jack raises two different breeds of cows on his farm. Of his cows, 28% are Black Angus
and the rest are Hereford. If he has 420 Black Angus cows, how many Herefords does he have?
9. A survey found out that 16% of the people who had bought a certain brand
of coffee grinder were unhappy with it. If there were 126 people who were
happy with it, then how many people in total had bought that brand?
1. Change the percentage into a decimal. 1. First write the fraction. Note that the two quantities
2. Then multiply the number by that decimal. in the fraction must both be in the same units: both
grams, both meters, both dollars, etc.
Alternatively, use mental math shortcuts
for finding 5%, 10%, 20%, 25%, 50%, etc. 2. Then convert the fraction into a decimal and
of a number. finally a percentage.
68
a. ______% = = _______ b. 7% = = _______ c. _______% = = 0.15
100
224
d. 120% = = _______ e. _____% = = ______ f. _______% = = 0.06
100
1% of the number
4% of the number
b. 2/25
c. 1 5/8
6. A cheap chair costs $25. The price of another chair is 140% of that.
How much does the other chair cost?
7. A bag has 25 green marbles and some white ones, too. The green marbles are 20% of the total.
How many marbles are there in total? How many white marbles are there?
10. (Challenge) One square has sides 2 cm long, and another has sides 4 cm long.
How many percent is the area of the smaller square of the area of the larger square?
59
a. 52% = = ________ b. _______% = = 0.07 c. _______% = = ________
100
382
d. 109% = = ________ e. _______% = = ________ f. 200% = = _______
100
Think of it this way. Since 0.38 = 38%, any decimal digits that we have beyond 0.38 (the digits 429) simply
become decimal digits for the percentage. In effect, we move the decimal point two places to the right.
1039 3409
d. 0.9% = = _______ e. ______% = = _______ f. ______% = = _______
10000 1000
Sometimes you can easily convert a fraction For most fractions, you need to divide
to an equivalent fraction with a denominator in order to convert them into decimals 0.8 8 8 8
of 100. After that it’s easy to write it as first and then into percentages. 9 )8.0 0 0 0
a decimal and as a percentage. -7 2
Simply treat the fraction line as a
·4
80
division symbol and divide. You will
get a decimal. Then write the decimal
-72
46 184 as a percentage. 80
= = 1.84 = 184% - 72
25 100 80
Example 1.
-72
·4 8
= 0.888... ≈ 0.889 = 88.9% 8
9
8 142 24
a. = = _____% b. = = _____% c. = = _____%
25 100 200 100 20 100
4. Write as percentages. Use long division. Round your answers to the nearest tenth of a percent.
a. 11/8 b. 11/24
5. Use a calculator to convert the fractions into decimals. Round the decimals to four decimal digits. Then write
the decimals as percentages.
2 6
a. ≈ 0.6667 = 66.67 % b. ≈ ________ = ________%
3 7
17 52
c. ≈ ________ = ________% d. ≈ ________ = ________%
23 98
7. The Carters live on a rectangular piece of land that measures 40 m × 35 m. The Joneses live on
a rectangular piece of land that measures 42 m × 39 m. To the nearest tenth of a percent, find
what percentage the area of the Carters’ land is of the area of the Joneses’ land.
8. Harry has two roosters, named Captain and Chief. The weight of Captain is 7/5 of the weight of Chief.
a. Write the second sentence above using a percentage instead of a fraction.
What percentage of
a. b.
each figure is colored?
Example 1. A shirt that cost $34 was discounted by $4. What is the percentage it was discounted?
part $4
We write the fraction and get = 2/17 = 0.1176471 ≈ 11.8%.
total $34
Example 3. A meal that cost $14 was increased by 20%. What is the new price?
Because the price is increasing, the new price isn’t 20% but 100% + 20% = 120% of the original one.
So we can rewrite the previous sentence as: The new price = 1.2 · $14 = $16.80
In this case, since the numbers are easy, we could also use mental math. Ten percent of $14 is $1.40,
so the 20% increase is $2.80. The sum of the original price and the increase gives the new price:
$14 + $2.80 = $16.80.
2. Calculate the new, increased prices. Write the percentages as decimals and use multiplication.
Since 13% of the price is removed, _________% of the price is left. I write that percentage as
a decimal and multiply the original price by it: _________· $45.50 = _____________.
5. Calculate the discounted prices. Write the percentages as decimals and use multiplication.
7. Find the final price when the base price and sales tax rate are given. This is a mental math workout, so
do not use a calculator!
a. Bicycle: $100; 7% sales tax. b. Fridge: $400; 6% sales tax. c. Haircut: $50; 3% sales tax.
Price after tax: $___________ Price after tax: $___________ Price after tax: $___________
Price: $2 Price: $13 Price: $180 Price: $70 Price: $2 Price: $18
d. A bag and a shirt. e. Six bottles of water. f. Two shirts and a bag.
9. Find the final price of a music CD with a base price of $11.50 when the sales tax is 6.7%.
10. Jeremy gets a 37.5% discount on a vacation package that normally costs $850.
Find what Jeremy will pay for the vacation package.
11. Patrick bought 5,000 m2 of land for a base price of $200,000. A 1.2% sales tax was added.
a. Find the total price Patrick paid.
b. Later, Patrick decides to sell 2,000 m2 of the land to a neighbor. What should Patrick
charge his neighbor in order to break even on what he paid for the part he’s selling?
12. a. The base price of a music CD is $12.50. It is first discounted by 20% and then a 7% sales tax is
added. What is the final price of the CD?
b. The base price of a pair of jeans is $55.97. They are first discounted by 40% and then a 5% sales
tax is added. What is the final price of the jeans?
13. Roger compared the unit prices of four different kinds of pasta.
One kind cost $2, another $1.50, another $2.20, and another $1.70.
b. If each type of pasta were discounted by 10%, then what would the average price be?
Again, we start out by reasoning that 77% of the price is left. In the 1% —— $43.81/77
chart on the right, the long lines mean “corresponds to” (not “equals”).
100% —— $43.81/77 · 100
100% —— $56.90
1. Write an expression for the final price using a decimal for the percentage.
2. A computer is discounted by 25%, and now it costs $576. Let p be its price
before the discount. Select the equation that matches the statement above p + 0.25p = 576
and solve it.
p − 0.25p = 576
0.25p = 576
4. A tablet is discounted by 30%. Matthew bought two of them, and he paid $98.
Find the price of the tablet before the discount (p). 2(p − 30) = 98
2(p − 0.3p) = 98
2(p − 0.3) = 98
5. a. Write an expression for the final price of a property with a base price of p when a 6.5%
sales tax and an 0.85% property tax are added to the base price.
b. Let’s say that the final price of the property in this situation is $16,639.25.
How much is the base price without the taxes?
6. A fan is discounted by 22%, and now it costs $28. Let p be its price before the discount.
28/p = 78/100
a. Find the proportion on the right that matches the problem.
p/28 = 78/100
b. Solve it.
p/78 = 28
8. Alice bought 5 bottles of hair conditioner when the store had it at 15% off. Her total bill was $50.79.
What was the price of one bottle of hair conditioner before the discount?
10. The price of electricity was lowered by 5%, so now it is $0.133 per kilowatt-hour.
What was the price before the decrease?
11. A store owner was planning for a big 30% off sale. However, she was rather unethical about it, and the
night before the sale, she increased the prices on some of the sale items. For example, she increased the
price by 30% for a roll of ribbon that did cost $5. What will the sale price of this roll of ribbon be?
12. The area of a triangular piece of land is 6 square kilometers. If the dimensions, including the base and
the altitude, of the triangle were increased by 10%, by how many percent would its area increase?
Hint: Make up a triangle with the given area. In other words, make up a base and an altitude so that the area is 6 km2.
A family’s water bill for the whole year was $584. From August through
December, the bill was 10% higher than from January through July because
of a 10% price increase. What was the monthly water bill before the
increase?
a. 50%, 25%, and 25% b. 33.3%, 33.3%, 1/6, and 1/6 c. 20%, 20%, 10%, and 50%
a. b. c.
5. The table lists by flavor how many units of protein powder a company sold. Draw a
circle graph showing the percentages. You will need a protractor and a calculator.
6. Mark polled some seventh graders about their favorite hobbies. Below are his results. Draw a circle
graph to show the percentages. Round the angles to whole degrees. You will need a protractor and
a calculator.
Example 1. A phone used to cost $50. Now it has been discounted to $45. What percentage was the
discount?
part
Since this problem is asking for the percentage, we will use our basic formula = percentage.
total
Because the change is relative to the original price, that original price becomes the “total” in our equation.
The “part” is the actual amount by which the quantity changes, in this case $5. So we get:
part $5
percentage = = = 1/10 = 10%
total $50
Essentially, we wrote what fraction the $5 discount is of the original $50 price and converted that fraction
into a percentage.
In summary: To calculate the percentage of change, use the same basic formula that defines a percentage:
part/total. Since the change is relative to the original price, the original price is the “total,” and the change in
price is the “part.”
part difference
percentage of change = =
total original
a. A toy construction set costs $12. b. A sewing kit costs $20. It is discounted and
It is now discounted and costs only $8. costs only $16 now. What percentage is
What percentage is the discount? the discount?
difference
=
original
c. A bouquet of flowers used to cost $15, d. The price of a stove was $160. The price has
but now it costs $20. increased, and now it costs $200. What is the
What is the percentage of increase? percentage of increase?
Gasoline cost $3/gallon last week. Now it has Gasoline cost $3/gallon last week. Now it costs
gone up by 5%. What is the new price? $3.15. What was the percentage of increase?
1. Calculate 5% of $3. Since 10% of $3 is $0.30, we 1. Find how much was added to $3 to get $3.15
know that 5% is half of that, or $0.15. (the difference). That is $0.15.
2. Add $3 + $0.15 = $3.15/gallon. 2. Find what percentage $0.15 is of the original
That is the new price. price, $3. It is 15/300 = 5/100 = 5%. So the
percentage of increase was 5%.
To find the percentage of increase (in the right box above), we work “backwards” compared to when we find
the new price when the percentage of increase is known (in the left box above).
a. A shirt used to cost $24 but it was discounted b. A shirt used to cost $24. Now it is discounted
by 25%. What is the new price? to $18. What percentage was it discounted?
a. At 5 months of age, a baby weighed 5 kg. b. At 5 months, a baby weighed 6 kg. Over the next
At 6 months, the baby weighs 6 kg. month, his weight increased by 20%. What is his
What was the percentage of increase? weight at 6 months of age?
4. From June to July, the rent increased from $325 to $342. Then it increased again in August, to $349.
Which increase was a greater percentage?
b. The price was increased back to $60. Calculate the percentage of increase.
Hopefully this is not a surprise to you, but the percentage is not the same as in part (a)!
6. A jacket cost $50. First its price was increased by 20%. Then it was discounted by 20%.
a. Calculate the final price. It will not be $50!
b. Since the original price was $50, use your answer from part (a) to calculate the true overall
percentage change in price.
7. Jake’s work hours were cut from 40 to 37.5 a week. Anita’s work hours were cut from 145 to
135 a month. Whose work hours were cut by a greater percentage?
8. The price of a vacuum cleaner that cost $100 is increased by 20%. Then it is increased by another 10%.
a. Find the price of the vacuum cleaner now.
b. Find the percentage of increase if the price had been increased from $100 to the final price
in one single increase. Note: the answer will not be 30%!
Example 1. A children’s playground measures 30 ft × 40 ft. It is enlarged so that each side is 10 ft longer.
What is the percentage of increase in the area?
The question doesn’t ask for the percent increase of each side, but of the area.
The original area is 30 ft × 40 ft = 1,200 sq. ft. The new area is 40 ft × 50 ft = 2,000 sq. ft.
Now we can find the percentage of increase. The fraction difference/original is (800 sq. ft. / 1,200 sq. ft) =
8/12. In lowest terms 8/12 becomes 2/3, which, as a percentage, is 66.7%.
2. A newsletter has been printed on 21 cm × 29.7 cm paper. To save costs, it will be printed on
17.6 cm × 25 cm paper instead. By how many percent will the printable area decrease?
c. (Challenge) Would your answers to (a) and (b) change if the shape were a rectangle?
A triangle?
a. Why do you think the water production (and usage) is higher in July than in June?
b. Calculate the percentage of decrease between 2013 and 2014 for each of the three months.
5. The price of a jar of honey went from $5.50 to $6.00. Then it increased further to $6.50.
If the price were to increase by another $0.50 (from $6.50 to $7.00), would the percentage
increase be more than, less than, or the same as when the price was increased the first time?
b. Let’s say a merchant wants the price of the battery charger to be increased so that
the price including tax is $79.99. What percentage did the price including tax increase?
a. By how many percent does that change the area of one window?
b. Originally, the designer was going to use 20 of the smaller windows in the house.
About how many of the bigger windows cover the same area as 20 of the smaller ones?
8. a. Three items, with prices of $50, $60, and $70, have their prices increased by $10.
For which item is the percentage increase in price the greatest?
b. Three items, with prices of $50, $60, and $70, have their prices discounted by 12%.
Which item’s price decreases the most (in dollars)?
10. The table shows the population of Kentucky every 10 years. The line graph shows the same
information. Your task is to calculate the percentage of increase in each decade. You already
did that for 1960-1970 in the previous exercise, so write that answer in the row for 1970.
% increase
Year Population
in the decade
1960 3,038,000 N/A
1970 3,219,000
1980 3,661,000
1990 3,685,000
2000 4,042,000
2010 4,340,000
11. The population of Kentucky grew more steeply in one of these decades than any of the others.
a. Which decade? From ___________ to ___________.
12. (Optional.) Make a line graph that shows the change in the population where you live (your town, city,
parish, county, state, province, country, etc.). Also calculate the percentage of increase or decrease for
each time period. You can often find population statistics in Wikipedia, for example. You can also search
the Internet (with adult supervision) for “your area population statistics,” where your area is the place that
you chose.
Example 1. A car weighs 2,000 kg. Another car weighs 2,500 kg. The second car is heavier, but how much
heavier than the first one is it?
To answer that question, we cannot just look at the difference of 500 kg and say that 500 kg is “a lot” or “a
little.” Instead, we need to take into account the sizes of the two items being compared and consider their
relative difference.
actual difference
The relative difference (or percentage of difference) of two values is the fraction .
reference value
This fraction is usually expressed as a percentage.
The problem is in determining which of the two values is the reference value. In this case, we want to find out
how much heavier the second car is than the first car, which means we use the weight of the first car as the
reference value. In another words, we are comparing the second car to the first car. It is as if the lighter car
were there first, and we are comparing a “newcomer” car to this first car.
500 kg 5 1
So the relative difference of the two weights is = = = 25%.
2,000 kg 20 4
This means the second car is 25% heavier than the first one. This gives us a precise value.
500 kg 5 1
Choosing the second car’s weight as the reference value gives: = = = 20%.
2,500 kg 25 5
This means the first car is 20% lighter than the second car.
Example 2. Southcreek College has 2,600 students and West River College has 2,400 students.
How many percent more students does Southcreek College have than West River College?
The difference in student count is 200. But which number is our reference? Since West River College is
mentioned after the word “than,” we are comparing Southcreek College to West River College. So the student
count of West River College is our reference number.
difference in student count 200 2 1
The fraction is = = = = 0.08333... ≈ 8.3%.
reference student count 2,400 24 12
So Southcreek College has approximately 8.3% more students than West River college.
1. Compare the taller object to the shorter one and calculate their relative difference.
6m 8m 300 cm 120 cm 4m 5m
difference
a. = b. c.
reference
2. Erica is 140 cm tall, and Heather is 160 cm tall. Fill in the blanks.
Heather is = ______% taller than Erica. Erica is = ______% shorter than Heather.
When there is no clear way to choose a reference value when calculating the relative (percentage)
difference, you can use the average of the two values as a reference value.
Example 3. The monthly subscription fees to two math practice websites are $9.99 and $12.95.
What is their relative difference?
The average of the two prices is ($9.99 + $12.95)/2 = $11.47.
$12.95 − $9.99 2.96
The relative difference is therefore = ≈ 25.8%.
$11.47 11.47
4. The area of one park is 14,000 square feet, and the area of another park is 10,000 square feet.
Use their average area to calculate the relative percentage difference between their areas.
5. KeepCool company charges $28 per hour for labor, and CityFreez charges $32 per hour.
a. Use the average rate for labor to calculate the percentage difference in the rates.
b. Now compare the costs for two hours of labor. What is the percentage difference?
Question 2. What percentage is the bigger cat’s weight of the smaller cat’s weight?
Solution: Write what fraction the bigger cat’s weight is relative to the smaller cat’s weight:
bigger cat’s weight 1.5 kg 15 5
It is = = = = 1 ¼ = 125%.
smaller cat’s weight 1.2 kg 12 4
Question 3. How much more (in percent) does the bigger cat weigh than the smaller cat?
Solution: This is a percentage difference relative to the smaller cat. Write the fraction (difference / reference):
difference in weight 0.3 kg 3 1
It is = = = = 25%.
smaller cat’s weight 1.2 kg 12 4
Question 4. Compare the weight of the smaller cat to the weight of the bigger cat.
Solution: This percentage difference is relative to the weight of the bigger cat:
difference in weight 0.3 kg 3 1
It is = = = = 20%.
bigger cat’s weight 1.5 kg 15 5
Question 5. What is the relative difference between the two cats’ weights?
Solution: No reference is specified, so let’s use the average weight: ½(1.5 kg + 1.2 kg) = 1.35 kg.
difference in weight 0.3 kg 30 2
It is = = = = 0.222... ≈ 22.2%.
average weight 1.35 kg 135 9
There are five different questions with five different solutions. Note the underlined key words!
You could be asked, “What percentage is (this) of (that)?”
OR: “What percentage more/less/smaller/bigger is (this) than (that)?”
Moreover, the order of comparison matters: The keywords “of,” “than,” and “to” mark the cat that we are
comparing to (the reference cat).
c. Compare the height of the shorter plant to d. Find the relative difference in the heights
the height of the taller one. using their average height.
b. The school orchestra has 26 boys and 14 girls. How many percent bigger is the number of boys than
the number of girls?
Yet, taking the actual data into account, your perception about these two areas would change a lot!
Determine without a calculator or paper and pencil (just figure in your head)
which county experienced the greatest percentage of decrease in domestic burglaries.
Example 1. How much interest does a principal of $2,000 earn in a year if the yearly interest rate is 5%?
The interest is simply 5% of $2,000, which is $100.
Example 2. You get a $3,000 loan with an annual interest rate of 8.5%.
You pay the loan back after 3 years. How much do you have to pay back?
The interest for one year is simply 8.5% of $3,000. For three years, it is three times that much.
Of course you also have to pay back the of principal $3,000. So the total amount you pay back is:
$3,000 + 3 · 0.085 · $3,000 = $3,000 + $765 = $3,765.
We can see from the above examples that to calculate the interest, we simply take the interest rate times
the principal times the time period. The formula for calculating simple interest (I) is usually given as:
I = Prt
where P is the principal, r is the interest rate, and t is the time.
1. Calculate the interest and the total amount to be paid back on these investments.
a. Principal $5,000; interest rate 3%; time 1 year
Interest: _________________________ Total to withdraw: ______________________
Certificate of Deposit
Savings Account
Time period: 5 years
Interest rate: 3.4%
Interest rate: 3.92%
3. Elizabeth bought a tablet for $450 on credit with a 12.9% annual interest rate.
a. How much interest (in dollars) will she pay in a month?
b. In a day?
5. Jerry took out a loan for $850 for 10 months with an annual interest rate of 10.8%. How much less interest
would he have paid if instead he had taken out a loan for 7 months with an annual interest rate of 9.5%?
6. John uses his credit card to finance a car for $26,000. The annual interest rate on his card is low, 2.75%,
but only for the first 12 months. After that, if Jon hasn’t paid the full amount back, the annual interest rate
jumps to 9.95%. Calculate how much John ends up paying back if he cannot pay the total during the first
12 months, but pays the entire amount after 2.5 years.
7. a. You borrowed $1,000 for one year. At the end of the year, you had to pay back $1,045.
What was the interest rate?
b. You borrowed $12,000 for five years. At the end of the five years you paid the bank back $15,600.
What was the interest rate?
9. How long would you have to invest $2,000 in order to earn $500 in interest, if the annual interest rate
is 11.5%?
10. What rate of interest do you need in order to earn $350 in interest in 2 years with a principal of $1,800?
0 $5,000
4 ____________ · 0.005 ≈
5 __________________ · 0.005 ≈
b. There is a formula for compound interest that allows these calculations to be done quicker. For this
situation, the total amount owed after month n is
$5,000 · 1.005n
For example, after 12 months, Jayden owes $5,000 · 1.00512 = $5,308.39. Use the formula to calculate
how much Jayden pays if he pays back the loan at the end of 2 years.
2. All these items are on sale. Calculate the new, discounted prices.
a. b. c.
3. A flashlight is discounted by 18%, and now it costs $23.37. Let p be its price
before the discount. Find the equation that matches the statement above p − 0.18 = $23.37
and solve it.
p − 18 = $23.37
0.82p = $23.37
0.18p = $23.37
4. Two brothers, Andy and Jack, shared the price of a new computer so that Andy paid
2/5 (or 40%) and Jack paid 3/5 (or 60%) of the price. The computer cost $459, and there
was a sales tax of 7% that was added onto the price. Calculate Andy’s and Jack’s shares.
5. A portable reading device costs $180. Now it is discounted and costs $153.
What was the percentage of discount?
7. A wall painting was planned to be 5 m by 3 m in size. If both of its sides are increased by 20%,
by what percentage will the area of the painting increase?
8. In a race, Old Paint finished in 120 seconds, and The Old Gray Mare finished in 200 seconds.
a. How many percent quicker was Old Paint than The Old Gray Mare?
b. How many percent slower was The Old Gray Mare than Old Paint?
9. Noah takes a $4,000 loan at a 7.8% annual interest rate to purchase a car. At the end of the first year, he
pays back $2,000 of the principal of the loan. At the end of the second year, he pays back the rest of the
principal and all of the interest. How much total interest does he have to pay? Assume simple interest,
which is calculated and paid only at the end of the period of the loan.
5.
4 40 11 55 8 80
a. = = 40% b. = = 55% c. = = 80%
10 100 20 100 10 100
3 15 6 24 4 80
d. = = 15% e. = = 24% f. = = 80%
20 100 25 100 5 100
8.
2. a. About 1/20 ( 5% ) of the population of Guatemala is 65 years old or older. (2020 estimate)
b. About 13/100 ( 13% ) of the population of Australia is 65 years old or older. (2020 estimate)
c. The Indian Ocean covers approximately 7/50 ( 14% ) of the Earth’s surface.
d. About 3/5 ( 60% ) of the world’s population lives in Asia.
13. a. 114% b. 138%
Puzzle corner.
a. Each tiny white square is 1/64 of the whole. So the colored area as a fraction is (1/4) − (2/64) = 14/64 = 7/32.
As a percentage, that is about 22%.
b. Each tiny colored triangle is 1/16 of the whole. So, the colored area is 9/16.
As a percentage, this is about 56%.
c. Each tiny colored triangle is 1/16 of the whole. The colored area is 1/2 + 3/16 = 11/16.
As a percentage, this is about 69%.
a. b. c.
1. a. 70 b. 32.1 c. 6 d. 0.7
2. a. 7 b. 3.21 c. 0.6 d. 0.07
3. Her total paycheck is $2,200.
4.
percentage / number 1,200 80 29 9 5.7
1% of the number 12 0.8 0.29 0.09 0.057
2% of the number 24 1.6 0.58 0.18 0.114
10% of the number 120 8 2.9 0.9 0.57
20% of the number 240 16 5.8 1.8 1.14
Page 14
5.
Mental Math and Percentage of a Number
1
50% is . To find 50% of a number, divide by 2 . 50% of 244 is 122 .
2
1
10% is . To find 10% of a number, divide by 10 . 10% of 47 is 4.7 .
10
1
1% is . To find 1% of a number, divide by 100 . 1% of 530 is 5.3 .
100
To find 20%, 30%, 40%, 60%, 70%, 80%, or 90% of a number, 10% of 120 is 12 .
• First find 10% of the number and 30% of 120 is 36 .
• then multiply by 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, or 9. 60% of 120 is 72 .
6.
a. 10% of 60 kg = 6 kg b. 10% of $14 = $1.40 c. 10% of 5 m = 0.5 m
20% of 60 kg = 12 kg 30% of $14 = $4.20 40% of 5 m = 2 m
d. 1% of $60 = $0.60 e. 10% of 110 cm = 11 cm f. 1% of $1,330 = $13.30
4% of $60 = $2.40 70% of 110 cm = 77 cm 3% of $1,330 = $39.90
Page 17
2.
a. 0.6 · 50 b. 0.03 · $400 c. 0.8 · 400 km
60% of 50 = 30 3% of $400 = $12 80% of 400 km = 320 km
d. 0.08 · 6 e. 0.11 · $300 f. 0.2 · 70 kg
8% of 6 = 0.48 11% of $300 = $33 20% of 70 kg = 14 kg
Page 18
8. a. Gladys did not convert 80% to a decimal. It should be 0.8 · 50 = 40.
b. Glenn did not continue his solution far enough. He only found 25% of 84,000. After finding 25% of 84,000, he should
have multiplied that by 3 to find 75% of 84,000. 84,000 ÷ 4 = 21,000, and 21,000 · 3 = 63,000.
9. Five of the expressions have the same value as 20% of $620:
0.02 · $620 $620 ÷ 5 $620 ÷ 10 · 2 2 · $62
1
5
· $620 0.2 · $620 20 · $620 $620 ÷ 4
Page 20
4. a. Round $39.90 ≈ $40. Then calculate 30% of $40 = $12. The estimated discounted price is $40 − $12 = $28.
b. Round 17% to 20%. Then calculate 20% of $12.50, which is $2.50. The estimated discounted price is $10.
Or round 17% to 20% and $12.50 to $13. Then 20% of $13 is 2.60, and the estimated discounted price is $10.40.
Or round 17% to 15% and $12.50 to $12. Then 15% of $12 is $1.80, and the estimated discounted price is $10.20.
Note: the exact answer is (1 − 0.17) · $12.50 = $10.38, so the second method, which calculates an estimated
discounted price of $10.40, is the most accurate. Why do you think that is? *
c. Round $75.50 to $80. Then 75% of $80 is $60, and the estimated discounted price is $20.
* Note to problem 4. b. (“Why do you think that is?”): By rounding the 17% discount to 20%, we are figuring ourselves
a bigger discount than what we would really get. So by rounding the price up to a higher price, from $12.50 to $13.00,
we are offsetting that error. When our errors of estimation cancel, our estimate is generally closer to the exact price.
5. a. Round $199 to $200. Since 75% of $200 is $150, the estimated discounted price would be $50, which still costs more
than the off-brand mp3 player for about $45. So you’ll need to decide if there is a big enough difference in quality
between the two brands to justify paying $5 more.
b. Round $89 to $90. Then 40% of $90 is $36, and the estimated discounted price is about $90 − $36 = $54, which is still
more than about $40 for a used copy. You will need to decide if the difference in condition is worth $14 to you!
6. They would earn more money by selling it at the 25% discount. Without the discount, they earn about 50 · $10 =
$500 a week. Discounting it to around $7.50 would make their estimated income about 100 · $7.50 = $750 a week.
7. a. The jeans were discounted by 10%. b. The phone was discounted by 25%. c. The haircut was discounted by 20%.
8. The expressions that are in grey will not work, but all of the others will.
2.
percentage / number 6 100 90 57 6
1% of the number 61 0.9 0.57 0.06
2.
282 67 891
a. 28.2% = = 0.282 b. 6.7% = = 0.067 c. 89.1% = = 0.891
1000 1000 1000
9 1039 3409
d. 0.9% = = 0.009 e. 10.39% = = 0.1039 f. 340.9% = = 3.409
1000 10000 1000
g. 45.39% = 0.4539 h. 2.391% = 0.02391 i. 94.2834% = 0.942834
Page 29
3.
8 32 142 71 24 120
a. = = 32% b. = = 71% c. = = 120%
25 100 200 100 20 100
4.
5.
2 6
a. ≈ 0.6667 = 66.67% b. ≈ 0.8571 = 85.71%
3 7
17 52
c. ≈ 0.7391 = 73.91% d. ≈ 0.5306 = 53.06%
23 98
Page 30
6.
Ocean Area / Total Area Percent
Pacific 155,557,000 km2 / 335,258,000 km2 = 0.46399... 46.4%
Atlantic 2
76,762,000 km / 335,258,000 km = 0.22896... 2 22.9%
Indian 68,556,000 km2 / 335,258,000 km2 = 0.20448... 20.4%
Southern 20,327,000 km2 / 335,258,000 km2 = 0.06063... 6.1%
Arctic 14,056,000 km2 / 335,258,000 km2 = 0.04192... 4.2%
b. The blue rectangle on the left is half of the square. The other rectangle on the right is also half of
the square. In that rectangle on the right, the four small triangles have the same area as the two larger
ones. (Imagine that the entire square is divided into quarters.) So the three blue triangles make up ¾
of half of the area of the right rectangle, so they make up ¾ of ½ of ½ of the entire square. As a
percent, the blue-shaded area is the sum of the triangles and the rectangle:
(¾ · ½ · ½) + (½) = 3∕16 + 8∕16 = 11∕16 = 0.6875 = 68.75%.
Since 13% of the price is removed, 87% of the price is left. I write that percentage as
a decimal and multiply the original price by it: 0.87 · $45.50 = $39.59.
c. The area of the smaller rectangle is 135 cm2 / 540 cm2 = 25% of the area of the larger rectangle.
Page 33
8.
a. A microscope. b. 2 shirts. c. Crayons and a toy horse.
2. p − 0.25p = $576
0.75p = $576 ÷ 0.75
p = $768
The computer cost $768 before the discount.
Page 35
3. r + 0.05r = $215.25
1.05r = $215.25 ÷ 1.05
1.05r / 1.05 = $215.25 / 1.05
r = $205.00
The rent was $205 before they raised it.
Page 36
6. a. The percent proportion is part/total = percent/100. In this case, we have (discounted price)/(original price) = 78/100,
so the correct equation is 28/p = 78/100.
$28 78
b. =
p 100
78p = $2,800
78p $2,800
=
78 78
p = $35.90
Page 37
d 56
7. a. =
4,500 km 100
100d = 56 · 4,500 km
100d = 252,000 km
100d 252,000 km
=
100 100
d = 2,520 km
38n = 608
38n 608
=
38 38
n = 16
8. If the conditioner was 15% off, it cost 100% − 15% = 85% of its regular price. Also, with the discount a single
bottle cost $50.79 / 5 = $10.158. So the proportion is (discounted price)/(regular price) = 85/100. Let b be the
regular price of one bottle. Then the proportion becomes:
$10.158 85
=
b 100
85b = $1015.80
85b $1015.80
=
85 85
n ≈ $11.95
The price of one bottle of hair conditioner before the discount was $11.95. You can of course solve this problem in
other ways, as well.
Page 38
9. The part is the tax, and the total is the value, v. The percent proportion is $95.20/v = 0.8/100. You can also solve this
by writing the equation 0.008v = $95.20. Either way, the solution is v = $11,900.
The tax agency valued his land at $11,900 .
10. If the price of electricity was lowered by 5%, it is now 95% of what it was before, so we can write a percent proportion
now/then = $0.133 / p = 95/100. Or, you can write the equation 0.95p = $0.133. Either way, the solution is p = $0.140.
The price of electricity was $0.14 per kilowatt-hour before the decrease in cost.
11. The price after the discount ends up being $4.55.
The price after the 30% increase is 130% of the original price: $5 · 1.3 = $6.50. The price after the 30% discount is
70% of that higher price: $6.50 · 0.7 = $4.55. The prices are different because the 30% discount affects a bigger price
than the 30% increase did (it is a discount not only on the original price but also on the increase), so the discount ends
up being bigger than the increase. In this case, the customer got only a $0.45/$5.00 = 9% discount from the original
$5.00 price.
Because the increase is 10%, we know that b' = 1.1b and h' = 1.1h. If we substitute those into the formula for the area,
we get the area of the bigger triangle as Abig = ½ b'h' = ½ (1.1b)(1.1h) = 1.21 (½ bh). In the last expression, the part
½ bh is the area of the original triangle, so we can write Abig = 1.21 (½ bh) = 1.21 A, where A is the area of the
original triangle.
So, since area of the bigger triangle is 1.21A, that means it is 121% of A, which means the increase in area is 21%.
Puzzle Corner: Let’s use m to represent the monthly water bill before the increase. The bill after the 10% increase is 1.1m.
For 7 months, January through July, the bill is m, for a total of 7m. For 5 months, August through December, the bill is
1.1m, for a total of 5 · 1.1m = 5.5m. The total of the bills for the whole year is thus 7m + 5.5m = 12.5m = $584.00. Therefore
the monthly water bill before the increase was: m = $584.00 / 12.5 = $46.72.
1. a. b. c.
3. a.
7. a. The area increases by 24.9%. The original windows have the area 85 cm · 85 cm = 7,225 cm2.
The new windows will have the area 95 cm · 95 cm = 9,025 cm2. The difference is 9,025 − 7,225 = 1,800 cm2.
To find the percentage of increase, calculate the fraction 1,800/7225 = 0.2491... ≈ 24.9%.
b. Approximately 16 of the larger windows cover the same area as 20 of the smaller ones. Twenty of the smaller
windows cover an area of 7,225 cm2 × 20 = 144,500 cm2. Dividing by the area of the larger window gives the
number of larger windows needed to cover that area: 144,500 cm2 / 9,025 cm2 = 16.01 ≈ 16.
8. a. The $50 item has the greatest percent increase in price. When we compare the fractions 10/50, 10/60, and 10/70,
the fraction 10/50 is the biggest because it has the smallest denominator.
b. The price of the $70 item decreases the most in dollars. When we calculate the dollar increases, 0.12 · $50,
0.12 · $60, and 0.12 · $70, the last one is the biggest.
Page 47
9. During that decade the population of the state of Kentucky increased by 3,219,000 − 3,038,000 = 181,000 people.
As a percentage of the 1960 population, that increase is 181,000 / 3,038,000 = 0.05957... ≈ 6.0%.
10. Increase for Ratio % increase
Year Population
the decade Increase / Population for the decade
1960 3,038,000 — — —
1970 3,219,000 181,000 0.05957... 6.0%
1980 3,661,000 442,000 0.13730... 13.7%
1990 3,685,000 24,000 0.00655... 0.7%
2000 4,042,000 357,000 0.09687... 9.7%
2010 4,340,000 298,000 0.07372... 7.4%
Page 50
6. a. The shorter plant’s height is 12 cm / 16 cm = 3/4 = 75% of the taller plant’s height.
b. Write the fraction (difference)/(reference), using the shorter plant’s height as the reference.
The taller plant is 4 cm / 12 cm = 1/3 ≈ 33.3% taller than the shorter plant.
c. Again, write the fraction (difference)/(reference), but using the taller plant’s height as the reference.
The shorter plant is 4 cm / 16 cm = 1/4 = 25% shorter than the taller plant.
d. Again, write the fraction (difference)/(reference), but using the average height (14 cm) of the two plants as the
reference. The average height is: ½(12 cm + 16 cm) = 14 cm. So the relative difference between their heights is
4 cm / 14 cm = 2/7 ≈ 28.6% .
Page 51
7. a. The relative height of Baby’s tower is: (height of Baby’s tower)/(height of Jack’s tower) = 30 cm / 150 cm
= 10/50 = 20/100 = 20% of the height of Jack’s tower, so Mary is right. Elijah subtracted two heights to get a
percentage; the difference in height is 120 cm, but that wasn’t what the question asked for. Angela compared the
difference in height instead of the height of the tower that Baby built.
b. The school orchestra has: (difference)/(number of girls) = (26 − 14)/(14) = 12/14 = 0.85714... ≈ 85.7% ≈ 86%
more boys than girls, so Elijah is right. Angela subtracted two counts to get a percentage; there are 12 boys more,
not 12% more. Mary wrote correctly what percentage the number of girls is of the number of boys, but
that wasn’t what the question asked for.
8. a. See the table on the right.
Number of violent crimes in 2013-2014
b. You might move into County Z because of the slower increase County A County Z
of the crime rate, but 512 crimes is so many more than 4 that
2013 2 454
County A might well be a safer area to move into. However, it
would also be good to know the total population of the areas. If 2014 4 512
there were only 4 crimes but a population of 10 in County A and Percentage
512 crimes but a population of 30 million in County Z, you might 100% 12.8%
of increase
still be safer in County Z.
Puzzle corner:
In Ceredigion, the decrease was about 40 cases out of 93... which is nearly 1/2 or 50%.
In Conwy, the decrease is less than 30 out of 256, or barely over 10%.
In Gwynedd, the decrease is 62/200, which is 31%.
Clearly the percent of decrease was greatest in Ceredigion.
9. Using the formula I = prt we get the equation $500 = $2,000 · 0.115 · t. Here is the solution:
$500 = $2,000 · 0.115 · t
$500 = $230t
$230t = $500
t = $500/$230 = 50/23 ≈ 2.174 years
You would have to invest it for 2.174 years or about 2 years 2 months.
10. Using the formula I = prt we get the equation $350 = $1,800 · r · 2. Here is the solution:
$350 = $3,600r
$3,600r = $350
r = $350/$3,600 = 35/360 ≈ 0.0972
You would need an interest rate of 9.72%.
Page 57
11. The interest they paid was $4,741.48 − $4,055 = $686.48. Using the formula I = prt, we get:
$686.48 = $4,055 · 0.1195 · t
$686.48 = $484.5725t
$484.5725t = $686.48
t = $686.48/$484.5725 ≈ 1.41667 years = 1 year 5 months
You can also solve the problem this way. The interest paid was $686.48. The interest rate of 11.95% per year is very close
to 1% per month, which would mean paying $40.55 per month. It would take approximately $686.48 /$40.55 ≈ 17 months
to pay off the vacation package.
Puzzle corner. a. Let’s look at just one example of how compound interest is calculated. Jayden buys a $5,000 motorcycle
on a credit card that has a 6% annual interest rate. Compounding the interest means that the interest is added to the principal
at certain intervals, in this case each month.
b. At the end of 2 years, Jayden would pay back $5,000 · 1.00524 = $5,635.80.
7. Originally, the area of the wall painting would have been 5 m · 3 m = 15 m2.
After scaling, the sides are 5 m · 1.2 = 6 m and 3 m · 1.2 = 3.6 m, so the enlarged area is 6 m · 3.6 m = 21.6 m2.
The difference in area is 21.6 m2 − 15 m2 = 6.6 m2, so the percentage increase is (difference in area)/(original area)
= 6.6 m2/15 m2 = 6.6/15 = 0.44 = 44%. An easier way to figure this is just to realize that, regardless of the actual
dimensions, since the scaling of each side is 1.2, the scaling of the area is just 1.2 · 1.2 = 1.44, so the increase in
area is 44%.
8. The difference in their times is 200 sec − 120 sec = 80 sec. Their average time was ½(200 sec + 120 sec) = 160 sec.
a. (Difference)/(The Old Gray Mare’s time) = 80/200 = 4/10 = 40%. Old Paint was 40% quicker than the Old
Gray Mare.
b. (Difference)/(Old Paint’s time) = 80/120 = 2/3 = 66.7%. The Old Gray Mare was 66.7% slower than Old Paint.
c. (Difference)/(Average time) = 80/160 = 1/2 = 50%. The relative difference between the two horses was 50%.
9. Assuming none of the interest was added to the principal during the time of the loan, he would owe the total amount
of interest at the end of two years. For the first year, the interest is $4,000 · 0.078 = $312, and for the second, it is
$2,000 · 0.078 = $156. The total interest is $312 + $156 = $468.
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