07/12/2016

PercentChangeProblemsontheGMATMagooshGMATBlog

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PercentChangeProblemsontheGMAT
BYMIKEMGARRYONMARCH23,2012INALGEBRA,DATASUFFICIENCY,PERCENTAGES,QUANTITATIVE

Thisis,amongotherthings,acasestudyofoneoftheharderDataSufficiencyproblemsintheOG.

PercentsasMultipliers
Youcanfindseveralgoodtipsonpercentproblemsatthispost.Themostrelevanthereistheidea
ofapercentasmultiplier.Tochangeapercentintoamultiplier:
(a)changeitfromapercenttoadecimal
(b)forapercentincrease,keepitpositiveforapercentdecrease,makeitnegative.
(c)addthattoone.
Forexample,fora12%decrease,
(a)12%>0.12
(b)itsadecrease,so0.12
(c)1+(0.12)=0.88
Thatfinalnumber,0.88isthemultiplierfora12%decrease.Ifwewanttodecreaseanyquantity
by12%,allwehavetodoismultiplybythatmultiplier.

TheDSProblemintheOG
HerestheproblemfromtheOG,practiceDS#120.
120)Theannualrentcollectedbyacorporationfromacertainbuildingwasxpercentmorein1998
thanin1997,andypercentlessin1999thanin1998.Wastheannualrentcollectedbythe
corporationfromthebuildingmorein1999thanin1997?

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07/12/2016

PercentChangeProblemsontheGMATMagooshGMATBlog

1.x>y
2.

<
(A)Statement1aloneissufficientbutstatement2aloneisnotsufficienttoanswerthe
questionasked.
(B)Statement2aloneissufficientbutstatement1aloneisnotsufficienttoanswerthe
questionasked.
(C)Bothstatements1and2togetheraresufficienttoanswerthequestionbutneither
statementissufficientalone.
(D)Eachstatementaloneissufficienttoanswerthequestion.
(E)Statements1and2arenotsufficienttoanswerthequestionaskedandadditionaldatais
neededtoanswerthestatements.

TheTemptingWrongAnswer
WhenapercentincreaseiscombinedwithapercentdecreaseontheGMAT,theonearchetypal
mistakethetestmakersaretryingtoeduceisideathatyoucanfindthenetresultbysimplyadding
andsubtractingpercents.Increaseof20%,followedbyadecreaseof15%thehugemistaketo
say2015=5%.ThatslikeahugeboobytraptheGMATsetsupeverytime,andtestaftertest
theunsuspectingmassespredictablyfallintoitinswarms.Here,statement#1isallaboutthat
hugemistake.Manypeoplewillmistakenlythink(1)issufficient,butitsnot.
WhenapercentincreaseiscombinedwithapercentdecreaseontheGMAT,youneedtomultiply
themultipliers.Forexample,20%increasemeansthatthemultiplier=1.2015%decrease>
multiplier=0.85.Combination=1.20*0.85=1.02,a2%increase.
Inparticular,increasingbyapercent,thendecreasingbythatsamepercent,doesnotleaveyouin
thesameplace.Consideranincreaseof50%followedbyadecreaseof50%.Startat$100.
Increaseby50%to$150.Now,decreaseby50%,from$150to75%.Thenetresultofa50%
increase,followedbya50%decrease,isa25%decrease.

Solution
Calltheinitial1997amountofrentA.Itincreasedx%from1997to1998.Noticethatx%asa
multiplieris(1+x/100),sotheamountofrentin1998is:

Then,itdecreasedy%from1998to1999.Themultipliernowis

,sotheamountof

rentin1999is:

So,inorderfortherenttobemorein1999thanin1997,whatmultipliesAhere,thecomposite
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factormultiplyingA,mustbegreaterthanone.
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07/12/2016

PercentChangeProblemsontheGMATMagooshGMATBlog

>
FOILouttheleftside:
>
Subtract1frombothsides:
>
>
Multiplybothsideby100,toclearsomeofthefractions
>
Thisistheconditionfortherentin1999beinglargerthantherentin1997.Noticethisequivalent
toStatement#2.Sincestatement#2isanotherformofthestatementthattherentin1999is
largerthantherentin1997,itissufficient,andtheanswerisB.

HeresapracticePSquestionexploringsomeofthesameideas.
http://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/30

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AboutMikeMGarry
MikecreatesexpertlessonsandpracticequestionstoguideGMATstudentstosuccess.Hehas
aBSinPhysicsandanMAinReligion,bothfromHarvard,andover20yearsofteaching

experiencespecializinginmath,science,andstandardizedexams.Mikelikessmashing

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