Question

A college graduate goes to work for x dollars per week. After several months, the company gives all the employees a 10% pay cut. A few months later, the company gives all the employees a 10% raise. What is the college graduate's new salary?

Answer 1

0.99x

Step-by-step explanation:

Hey there!

If the college graduate's salary is x dollars and has a 10% cut of x, that means he earns 90% of x or 0.9x dollars.

• 100%(x) - 10%(x)
• 1x - 0.1x
• 0.9x

Now that the weekly earnings are 0.9x, the company gives a raise of 10% to all employees. This means the multiplier of the salary is 1.1 (100% + 10%).

• 1.1(0.9x) = new salary
• 1.1 (0.9x) = 0.99x

The new salary is 0.99x

We can check by pretending the salary is $100.

If we use the formula 0.99x, the output should be $99.

We can go through the process:

• 10% cut = $100 - $10 = $90

This is equivalent to 0.9(100)

• 10% raise = $90 + $9 = $99

Our equation checks out