Percents 235

Problem Set V:
1. John spent $25, which is 15 percent of his monthly wage. What is his monthly wage?

(A) $80 2 (C) $225 (D) $312.5 (E) $375

(B) $166
3

2. If a = 4b, what percent of 2a is 2b?

(A) 10% (B) 20% (C) 25% (D) 26% (E) 40%

3. Column A p = 5q Column B
r = 4q (q > 0)
40 percent of 3p 46 percent of 3r

4. Column A A jar contains 24 blue Column B

balls and 40 red balls.
50% of the blue balls 30% of the red balls

5. In a company with 180 employees, 108 of the employees are female. What percent of the employees
are male?
(A) 5% (B) 25% (C) 35% (D) 40% (E) 60%

6. John bought a shirt, a pair of pants, and a pair of shoes, which cost $10, $20, and $30, respectively.
What percent of the total expense was spent for the pants?
2 (B) 20% (C) 30% 1 (E) 60%
(A) 16 % (D) 33 %
3 3

7. Last year Jenny was 5 feet tall, and this year she is 5 feet 6 inches. What is the percent increase of her
height?
(A) 5% (B) 10% (C) 15% (D) 20% (E) 40%

8. Last month the price of a particular pen was $1.20. This month the price of the same pen is $1.50.
What is the percent increase in the price of the pen?

(A) 5% (B) 10% (C) 25% (D) 30% 1

(E) 33 %
3

9. Stella paid $1,500 for a computer after receiving a 20 percent discount. What was the price of the
computer before the discount?
(A) $300 (B) $1,500 (C) $1,875 (D) $2,000 (E) $3,000

10. A town has a population growth rate of 10% per year. The population in 1990 was 2000. What was
the population in 1992?
(A) 1600 (B) 2200 (C) 2400 (D) 2420 (E) 4000

11. In a class of 200 students, forty percent are girls. Twenty-five percent of the boys and 10 percent of
the girls signed up for a tour to Washington DC. What percent of the class signed up for the tour?
(A) 19% (B) 23% (C) 25% (D) 27% (E) 35%

12. If 15% of a number is 4.5, then 45% of the same number is

(A) 1.5 (B) 3.5 (C) 13.5 (D) 15 (E) 45
236 GRE Prep Course

Answers and Solutions to Problem Set V

1. Consider the first sentence: John spent $25, which is 15 percent of his monthly wage. Now, translate
the main part of the sentence into a mathematical equation as follows:
25 is 15 % of his monthly wage
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
1
25 = 15 . x
100
15
25 = x
100
2500 = 15x
2500 500 2
x= = = 166
15 3 3
The answer is (B).

2. Translate the main part of the sentence into a mathematical equation as follows:
What percent of 2a is 2b
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
1
x . 2a = 2b
100
x
⋅ 2a = 2b
100
x
⋅ 2( 4b ) = 2b (substituting a = 4b)
100
x
⋅8 = 2 (canceling b from both sides)
100
8x
=2
100
8x = 200
x = 25
The answer is (C).
Remark: You can substitute b = a/4 instead of a = 4b. Whichever letter you substitute, you will get the
same answer. However, depending on the question, one substitution may be easier than another.

3. Since more than one letter is used in this question, we need to substitute one of the letters for the other
to minimize the number of unknown quantities (letters).
40 percent of 3p 46 percent of 3r
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
1 × 1
40 3p 46 × 3r
100 100
40 46
= × 3p = × 3r
100 100
(substitute p = 5q) (substitute r = 4q)
40 46
= × 3(5q) = × 3(4q)
100 100
600q 552q
= =
100 100
= 6q = 5.52q
Since q > 0, 6q > 5.52q. Hence, Column A is greater than Column B. The answer is (A).

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 Percents 237

4. 50 % of the blue balls 30 % of the red balls

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
1 × 1
50 24 30 × 40
100 100
50 × 24 30 × 40
= =
100 100
1200 1200
= =
100 100
= 12 = 12
Hence, Column A equals Column B, and the answer is (C).

5. Since female employees are 108 out of 180, there are 180 – 108 = 72 male employees. Now, translate
the main part of the sentence into a mathematical equation as follows:

What percent of the employees are male

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
1
x . 180 = 72
100
180
x = 72
100
100 180 100
× x= × 72
180 100 180
x = 40
The answer is (D).

6. The total expense is the sum of expenses for the shirt, pants, and shoes, which is
$10 + $20 + $30 = $60. Now, translate the main part of the sentence into a mathematical equation:

What percent of the total expense was spent for the pants
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
1
x . 60 = 20
100

60
x = 20
100
60x = 2000 (by multiplying both sides of the equation by 100)
2000
x= (by dividing both sides of the equation by 60)
60
100 1
x= = 33
3 3
The answer is (D).

7. First, express all the numbers in the same units (inches):

12 inches
The original height is 5 feet = 5 feet × = 60 inches
1 feet
The change in height is (5 feet 6 inches) – (5 feet) = 6 inches.
238 GRE Prep Course

Now, use the formula for percent of change.

Amount of change
Percent of change: × 100% =
Original amount
6
× 100% =
60
1
× 100% = (by canceling 6)
10
10%
The answer is (B).

8. The change in price is $1.50 – $1.20 = $.30. Now, use the formula for percent of change.
Amount of change
× 100% =
Original amount
.30
× 100% =
1. 20
1
× 100% =
4
25%
The answer is (C).

9. Let x be the price before the discount. Since Stella received a 20 percent discount, she paid 80 percent
of the original price. Thus, 80 percent of the original price is $1,500. Now, translate this sentence into a
mathematical equation:
80 percent of the original price is $1,500
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
1
80 . x = 1500
100
80
x = 1500
100
100 80 100 80
x= 1500 (by multiplying both sides by the reciprocal of )
80 100 80 100
x = 1875
The answer is (C).

10. Since the population increased at a rate of 10% per year, the population of any year is the population
of the previous year + 10% of that same year. Hence, the population in 1991 is the population of
1990 + 10% of the population of 1990:
2000 + 10% of 2000 =
2000 + 200 =
2200
Similarly, the population in 1992 is the population of 1991 + 10% of the population of 1991:
2200 + 10% of 2200 =
2200 + 220 =
2420
Hence, the answer is (D).

TeamLRN
 Percents 239

11. Let g be the number of girls, and b the number of boys. Calculate the number of girls in the class:

Girls are 40 percent of the class

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
1
g = 40 × 200
100

40
g= × 200 = 80
100

The number of boys equals the total number of students minus the number of girls:

b = 200 – 80 = 120

Next, calculate the number of boys and girls who signed up for the tour:

25 10
25 percent of boys ( × 120 = 30) and 10 percent of girls ( × 80 = 8) signed up for the tour. Thus,
100 100
30 + 8 = 38 students signed up. Now, translate the main part of the question with a little modification into a
mathematical equation:

What percent of the class is the students who signed up for the tour
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
1
x . 200 = 38
100

200
x = 38
100
x = 19

The answer is (A).

12. Let x be the number of which the percentage is being calculated. Then 15% of the number x is .15x.
We are told this is equal to 4.5. Hence,
.15x = 4.5
Solving this equation by dividing both sides by .15 yields
4.5
x= = 30
.15
Now, 45% of 30 is
.45(30)
Multiplying out this expression gives 13.5. The answer is (C).