topic badge

1.02 Percentage increase and decrease

Lesson

Increasing by a percentage

Exploration

Let's say we wanted to increase $40$40 by $2%$2% and find the end amount. That means we would have to first find $2%$2% of $40$40, which we can work out here:

$40\times2%=0.8$40×2%=0.8 

So the final amount would be $40+0.8=40.8$40+0.8=40.8.

A quicker way to do this would be to think completely in percentages. To find $40$40 after the $2%$2% increase, we are essentially finding $100%+2%=102%$100%+2%=102% of $40$40.

Let's see where this new approach takes us! If we use our existing know-how about percentages, $102%\times40=40.8$102%×40=40.8 as well!

So now we know that to find the increased amount by a percentage, multiply the amount by ($100%$100% $+$+ percentage).

Increase by percentage

Increase $x$x by $y%=x\left(100+y\right)%$y%=x(100+y)%

 

Decreasing by a percentage

Decreases are very similar to increases.

Exploration

For example, say we want to decrease $60$60 by $5%$5%. This would mean finding $5%$5% of $60$60 first, which is $60\times5%=3$60×5%=3, and then subtracting this amount. So the final amount is $60-3=57$603=57

The easier way to do this is to think of it as finding $100%-5%=95%$100%5%=95% of $60$60.

$95%\times60=57$95%×60=57

This is the same answer we got before! So for these kind of questions, to find the decreased amount by a percentage, multiply the amount by ($100%$100% $-$ percentage). 

Decrease by percentage

Decrease $x$x by $y%=x\left(100-y\right)%$y%=x(100y)%

 

Practice questions

QUESTION 1

We want to increase $1300$1300 by $40%$40% by following the steps outlined below.

  1. First find $40%$40% of $1300$1300.

  2. Add the percentage increase to the original amount to find the amount after the increase.

  3. Calculate $140%$140% of $1300$1300.

  4. Is increasing an amount by $40%$40% equivalent to finding $140%$140% of that amount?

    Yes

    A

    No

    B

QUESTION 2

We want to decrease $1500$1500 by $15%$15% by following the steps outlined below.

  1. First find $15%$15% of $1500$1500

  2. Subtract the percentage decrease from the original amount to find the amount after the decrease.

  3. Calculate $85%$85% of $1500$1500

  4. Is decreasing an amount by $15%$15% equivalent to finding $85%$85% of that amount?

    Yes

    A

    No

    B

QUESTION 3

A bag of rice weighs $110$110kg. If the weight of the bag decreases by $40%$40% find the new weight of the bag.

Repeated percentage change

Repeated percentage change can seem a bit misleading. If I wanted to buy a TV for $\$1000$$1000 that had been reduced by $20%$20% and then $50%$50% it would be easy to think you save $20%$20% of $1000$1000 ($\$200$$200) and then $50%$50% of $1000$1000 ($\$500$$500), which would be a saving of $\$700$$700 or $70%$70%. But this is not the case! 

The reduction happens successively. So at first you save the $\$200$$200. So the TV was then priced at $\$800$$800. You can then save $50%$50% of $\$800$$800 - which is $\$400$$400. So in total this is a saving of $\$600$$600 or only $60%$60%.  

Of course amounts can increase or decrease.

Worked example

Example 1

A set of tools is on sale for $20%$20% off and then has a further $15%$15% trade discount applied. If the original price of the tools is $\$500$$500, what is the discounted price?

Think: This is not equivalent to a $35%$35% discount, we must apply the two discounts in series. To obtain the price after the first discount we need to multiply by $80%$80% and then to apply the second discount we need to multiply by $85%$85%. This can be done in two steps, or in one as follows:

Do:

$\text{Discounted price}$Discounted price $=$= $\$500\times80%\times85%$$500×80%×85%
  $=$= $\$500\times0.8\times0.85$$500×0.8×0.85
  $=$= $\$340$$340

Reflect: Notice we are multiplying by both changes and we can reorder a multiplication without changing the result. Hence, the order of the discounts is not important - an $80%$80% discount followed by a $20%$20% discount is the same as a $20%$20% discount followed by an $80%$80% discount.

Finding overall percentage change

To find the overall percentage change after applying successive percentage decreases and/or increases we could find the find the change from the original amount and then express this as a percentage of the original amount. For the example above the original price was $\$500$$500, the final discounted price was $\$340$$340, so we have a discount of $\$160$$160 which is equivalent to a percentage change of:

$\text{Percentage discount}$Percentage discount $=$= $\frac{\$160}{\$500}\times100%$$160$500×100%
  $=$= $32%$32%

So we can see a series discount of $20%$20% and $15%$15% is equivalent to a single discount of $32%$32%.

However, often we are not given an original price and asked for the overall percentage change. To find this: 

  • Calculate the single multiplier equivalent to the chain of increases/decreases
  • Convert the multiplier to a percentage
  • Find the difference between the multiplier and $100%$100%

Worked example

Example 2

Find the overall percentage change equivalent to:

a) A mark-up of $30%$30% followed by a discount of $20%$20%.

Think: To mark-up(increase) by $30%$30% we need to multiply by $1.3$1.3 and to discount by $20%$20% we need to multiply by $0.8$0.8. Let's find what single multiplier this is equivalent to:

Do:

$\text{Net price}$Net price $=$= $\text{Original price}\times1.3\times0.8$Original price×1.3×0.8
  $=$= $\text{Original price}\times1.04$Original price×1.04

Our single multiplier is $1.04$1.04 which as a percentage is $104%$104%. We can see the difference between this and $100%$100% is a $4%$4% increase $\left(104%-100%=4%\right)$(104%100%=4%).

b) A discount of $25%$25% followed by a further discount of $10%$10%.

Think: To discount by $25%$25% we need to multiply by $0.75$0.75 and to discount by $10%$10% we need to multiply by $0.9$0.9. Let's find what single multiplier this is equivalent to:

Do:

$\text{Net price}$Net price $=$= $\text{Original price}\times0.75\times0.9$Original price×0.75×0.9
  $=$= $\text{Original price}\times0.675$Original price×0.675

Our single multiplier is $0.675$0.675 which as a percentage is $67.5%$67.5%. We can see the difference between this and $100%$100% is a $32.5%$32.5% decrease $\left(100%-67.5%=32.5%\right)$(100%67.5%=32.5%).

 

Practice questions

Question 4

The price of a heater selling for $\$234$$234 is initially discounted by $14%$14% and later marked up by $14%$14%.

  1. Choose the expression that correctly represents the final sales price of the heater.

    $234-14%+14%$23414%+14%

    A

    $234\times\left(\left(-14\right)%\right)\times14%$234×((14)%)×14%

    B

    $234\times86%\times114%$234×86%×114%

    C

    $234\div86%\times114%$234÷​86%×114%

    D
  2. What is the final sales price to the nearest cent?

question 5

The price of a phone was increased by $40%$40% and then again by $40%$40%.

  1. What was the overall percentage increase?

  2. The overall percentage increase when the price is increased by $40%$40% twice is $2\times40%$2×40%. True or false?

    True

    A

    False

    B

QUESTION 6

A country's GDP (Gross Domestic Product) contracted by $4%$4% one year due to a drought, but then grew by $6%$6% the next year when the weather returned to normal.

  1. Express the country's GDP during the drought as a percentage of the previous year's GDP.

  2. Express the country's GDP in the year after the drought as a percentage of the drought affected GDP.

  3. Calculate the new GDP as a percentage of the original.

  4. Hence, evaluate the percentage change over the two years.

  5. Is this change an overall increase or decrease?

    Increase

    A

    Decrease

    B

Outcomes

ACMGM006

apply percentage increase or decrease in various contexts; for example, determining the impact of inflation on costs and wages over time, calculating percentage mark-ups and discounts, calculating GST, calculating profit or loss in absolute and percentage terms, and calculating simple and compound interest

What is Mathspace

About Mathspace