Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Therefore
50 1
50% of a quantity means = of it;
100 2
75 3
75% of a price means = of it;
100 4
125 5 1
125% of a quantity means = = 1 of it.
100 4 4
Example: Determine
(a) 30% of 15 (b) 90% of 200 (c) 120% of 310.
Solution: For calculation purposes we will usually convert our percentages
to decimals.
(a) 30% of 15 is
30
× 15 = 0.3 × 15 = 4.5.
100
2
Scaling Factor
In the previous example our calculations were performed in two steps. The
value of the rise or fall was calculated and added to original to obtain the
answer. Let us now observe that the entire calculation can be done in one
step. This will not only lead to quicker calculations but will allow us to
investigate more difficult problems.
Let us suppose that the price of a particular good is eP and that it will rise
by r%. The new price of the good will be the original P plus r% of P . In
other words the new price of the good is
r r
P + r%P = P + P =P 1+ .
100 100
r
We will call 1 + the scaling factor.
100
Let us reconsider some of our previous examples.
Solution. The original price of the share is P = $14.10. The change in the
price of a share is r = 3%. The scaling factor is
3 103
1+ = = 1.03.
100 100
Thus the new share price is (14.10)(1.03) =e14.52.
3
Exercise:
(a) On the first of January 2000 the population of a village is 7, 200. If the
annual rise in the population is 7%, what is the population at midnight
on the 31st of December?
(b) The GDP of a country was 94 billion euros five years ago. If it increased
by 5% over the last five years what is the current GDP of the country?
We can consider a decrease of r% as an increase of −r%. Thus if the price
or value of a good decreases by r% then we multiply by a scaling factor of
−r r
1+ = 1− .
100 100
Example: Last year the average daily usage of a motorway was 21, 000 ve-
hicles. The introduction of a toll six months ago has lead to a decrease of
10% in the average daily usage of the motorway. What is the current average
daily usage?
Exercise:
(a) A company has an annual electricity bill of e1,230,000. By increasing
its insulation it can reduce its electricity cost by 6%. What is the new
annual cost of its electricity?
4
(b) As part of a promotional weekend The Great Islands Hotel reduced its
prices by 23%. If the cost of a weekend is usually e420 what is the
promotional price?