Question

Melinda has several children and frequently marvels at how different each child is from one another. Jacob, her oldest son, took his first steps at 17 months whereas Clyde, her youngest son, took his first steps at 10.5 months old. Compare the number of months it took Clyde to take his first steps to the number of months it took Jacob using absolute and relative change.

Answer 1

Using absolute change, Clyde took 6.5 less months to take his first steps than Jacob.

Using relative change, it took Clyde 38.24% less time than Jacob to take his first steps.

Explanation:

Absolute change:

A number, that is, the difference between two measures.

Jacob: 17 months

Clyde: 10.5 months.

17 - 10.5 = 6.5

Using absolute change, Clyde took 6.5 less months to take his first steps than Jacob.

Relative change:

Absolute change multiplied by 100% and divided by the reference value. So

6.5*100%/17 = 38.24%

Using relative change, it took Clyde 38.24% less time than Jacob to take his first steps.