Question

An employee earns $24.18 an hour after receiving a 4% raise. What did the employee make before the raise?

a) $22.54

b) $23.25

c) $23.25

d) $23.18

Answer 1

To determine the original wage before a 4% raise, we divide the current wage, $24.18, by 1.04. The original hourly wage was $23.25, which corresponds to option b) $23.25.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the original hourly wage before a 4% raise was applied, we divide the current wage by 1 plus the raise percentage in decimal form. Here, the employee currently makes $24.18 after the 4% raise. To calculate the original wage, we use the following formula:

Original Hourly Wage = Current Hourly Wage / (1 + Raise Percentage)

Converting the percentage to decimal, we get:

Original Hourly Wage = $24.18 / (1 + 0.04)

Original Hourly Wage = $24.18 / 1.04

We can then perform the division:

Original Hourly Wage = $23.25

The correct answer to what the employee made before the raise is:

b) $23.25