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# Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it

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Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it [#permalink]  08 Oct 2012, 00:49
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Question Stats:

68% (02:03) correct 32% (01:35) wrong based on 588 sessions
Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it had in January. If Company P had 460 employees in December, how many employees did it have in January?

(A) 391
(B) 400
(C) 410
(D) 423
(E) 445

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Re: Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it [#permalink]  08 Oct 2012, 00:50
1
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SOLUTION

Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it had in January. If Company P had 460 employees in December, how many employees did it have in January?

(A) 391
(B) 400
(C) 410
(D) 423
(E) 445

Given: January*1.15=December --> January*1.15=460 --> January=460/1.15=400.

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Re: Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it [#permalink]  08 Oct 2012, 01:31
1
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No. of employees in December = 1.15 * No. of employees in January
No. of employees in January = No. of employees in december / 1.15 = 460/1.15
= 400

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Re: Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it [#permalink]  08 Oct 2012, 01:47
1
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Number of employees in Jan = 460 /1.15 = 400
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Re: Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it [#permalink]  08 Oct 2012, 03:39
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Bunuel wrote:
Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it had in January. If Company P had 460 employees in December, how many employees did it have in January?

(A) 391
(B) 400
(C) 410
(D) 423
(E) 445

Since $$15%=\frac{15}{100}=\frac{3}{20}$$, it means that $$460$$ represents $$23/20$$ of the number of employees in January. Then, $$1/20$$ of that number is $$460/23 = 20.$$
Therefore, the number of employees in January was $$20\cdot20=400.$$

PS Bunuel, just another small typo...see above (slution). And I am mad at myself, why I didn't see it before...
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Last edited by EvaJager on 08 Oct 2012, 06:11, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it [#permalink]  08 Oct 2012, 03:53
2
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If J = # of employees in January, and D = # of employees in December..
D = (J + 15% of J) = (1.15)*J Plug in known values (D = 460)
Therefore, (1.15)*J = 460 Solve for J
J = 460/(1.15) = 400 B
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Re: Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it [#permalink]  08 Oct 2012, 05:49
1
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Let the no. of employees in Jan=x
Therefore the no.of employees in Dec will be =Total employees in Jan PLUS increased no of employees
=>{x + (15% of x)}
=> 1.15x

It is given that;
Total no.of employees in Dec = 460
so, 1.15x=460
solve for x , we will get x= 400

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Re: Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it [#permalink]  09 Oct 2012, 21:05
2
KUDOS
First, we need to determine which one to use for base January or December, that is whether,
J= 1.15D
Or
0.85J = D

The question says . employees in December are 15% more than in January. Therefore we are actually taking J as base and hence get number of employees in December as D=115% of J => 1.15J
Or 1.15J =460 => J =400 Ans (B)
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Re: Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it [#permalink]  11 Oct 2012, 02:39
1
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Expert's post
please. experts can give an opinion about the level (real) of this question ?? of course I know that is not important the level but to solve it 300 or 700 no matter what

back to question.

J --------------- D

X 1.15

1.15 x = 460 X = 400 B in 30 seconds ( thanks to sleepless nights)

or 1.15 is what % of 460 ----> translate 1.15 = x/100 * 460 -----> = 4 only B fits the bill

C should not possible following this process of reasoning
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Re: Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it [#permalink]  11 Oct 2012, 12:22
Expert's post
SOLUTION

Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it had in January. If Company P had 460 employees in December, how many employees did it have in January?

(A) 391
(B) 400
(C) 410
(D) 423
(E) 445

Given: January*1.15=December --> January*1.15=460 --> January=460/1.15=400.

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Re: Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it [#permalink]  16 Feb 2013, 11:19
Okay, so now i ve fallen into this really Stupid trap here . I got A) 391 . 15% of 460 is 69 . So i did 460-69 = 391 . I know i am wrong now and this is a dumb mistake . But what am i missing here ??
Kindly Help..
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Re: Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it [#permalink]  16 Feb 2013, 11:57
3
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thinktank wrote:
Okay, so now i ve fallen into this really Stupid trap here . I got A) 391 . 15% of 460 is 69 . So i did 460-69 = 391 . I know i am wrong now and this is a dumb mistake . But what am i missing here ??
Kindly Help..

If 100 is increased by 50%, we get 150.
However if 150 is decreased by 50% we do not get 100 and instead we get 75.
The mistake you are doing is thinking that a 15% decrease from 460 is the same as a 15% increase from the right answer choice.
From the above illustration, we can see that equating as such is incorrect.
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Re: Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it [#permalink]  17 Feb 2013, 20:26
MacFauz wrote:
thinktank wrote:
Okay, so now i ve fallen into this really Stupid trap here . I got A) 391 . 15% of 460 is 69 . So i did 460-69 = 391 . I know i am wrong now and this is a dumb mistake . But what am i missing here ??
Kindly Help..

If 100 is increased by 50%, we get 150.
However if 150 is decreased by 50% we do not get 100 and instead we get 75.
The mistake you are doing is thinking that a 15% decrease from 460 is the same as a 15% increase from the right answer choice.
From the above illustration, we can see that equating as such is incorrect.

Ah!, Thank you MacFauz
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Re: Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it [#permalink]  28 Oct 2013, 20:53
1
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thinktank wrote:
Okay, so now i ve fallen into this really Stupid trap here . I got A) 391 . 15% of 460 is 69 . So i did 460-69 = 391 . I know i am wrong now and this is a dumb mistake . But what am i missing here ??
Kindly Help..

I solved the problem by estimation, I won't try to explain that, just for the fact that 410 could be a trap. So I'll try to explain on BackSolving the problem.

Jan = 10% + +5% = December
391 39.1 (Stop Here)
400 40 20 460
410 41 (Stop here)
423 42.3 (Stop here)
445 44.5(Stop here)

Both Numbers must be divisible in order to arrive at 460

or Try to Solve this way:

J=15%+D
D=460

Solve for J = .15+460
Multiply by 100

46000/115 = 400
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Re: Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it [#permalink]  24 Jan 2014, 09:08
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just use the answer choices.

400*15/100=60 === 60+400=460. Ans B.
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Re: Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it [#permalink]  25 May 2014, 13:05
Bunuel wrote:
Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it had in January. If Company P had 460 employees in December, how many employees did it have in January?

(A) 391
(B) 400
(C) 410
(D) 423
(E) 445

Practice Questions
Question: 57
Page: 159
Difficulty: 550

I'm having a problem.
I started solving this problem when December is x and January is 0.85x. IF x=460 shouldn't January be 460x0.85=391

Where am I going wrong?
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Re: Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it [#permalink]  25 May 2014, 13:17
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Expert's post
bytatia wrote:
Bunuel wrote:
Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it had in January. If Company P had 460 employees in December, how many employees did it have in January?

(A) 391
(B) 400
(C) 410
(D) 423
(E) 445

I'm having a problem.
I started solving this problem when December is x and January is 0.85x. IF x=460 shouldn't January be 460x0.85=391

Where am I going wrong?

x is 15% more than y means, that $$x=1.15y$$, or that $$y=\frac{x}{1.15}\approx{0.87x}$$.

$$y=0.85x$$ means that y is 15% less than x, which is not the same as x is 15% more than y.
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Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it [#permalink]  16 May 2015, 15:17
Not sure if anyone will answer me but why can't we use proportions to solve this? ie:

1.15/460 = 1.00/x ?
Company P had 15 percent more employees in December than it   [#permalink] 16 May 2015, 15:17
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