Question

Finley's pumpkin had a mass of 6.56.56, point, 5 kilograms (\text{kg})(kg)left parenthesis, k, g, right parenthesis before he carved it. After carving it, the pumpkin had a mass of 3.9 k, g. What was the percent decrease in the mass of the pumpkin?

Answer 1

General Idea:

% decrease
`=(O-F)/(O) * 100` where O means original value, F means final value.

Applying the concept:

In our problem, original value is 6.5 kg and final value is 3.9 kg. Substituting this in the formula we get the percentage decrease.

% decrease
`=(6.5-3.9)/(6.5) *100=(2.6)/(6.5)*100= 0.4*100=40`

Conclusion:

The percent decrease in the mass of the pumpkin is 40%