Question

Ashely is making $500 a week at her job. She receives a 20% pay raise. A year later she takes a 5% pay cut. How much money does she make per week now?

Answer 1

$570 a week

Explanation:

Percentage Calculations

One tricky fact about percentages is that they are usually performed over the last computed quantity. It makes them non-additive. For example, a raise of 10% followed by a 10% some time later, is NOT a 20% of total raise

The question states Ashely is making $500 a week at her job and that she receives a 20% pay raise. After that raise she will make

`\$500*(1+20/100)=\$500(1.2)=\$600 \text{ a week}`

A year later she takes a 5% pay cut. We must be careful to take that percentage from the last earnings. She now makes

`\$600(1-5/100)=\$600(0.95)=\$570\ a\ week`