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Assume a number for the number of donuts produced in 1996 to make calculations easier.
If that number were 200.

In 1997, there will be an increase of 37.5%, making the total number of donuts produced 275.
In 1998, there will be an decrease of approximately 11.1%, making the number of donuts around 244.2.
In 1999, again since there is a decrease of 10%, the number of donuts is around 220.
So, essentially, there is a 10% increase in the donuts from initial number of 200(in 1996) to 220 in 1999.

Coming back to the problem, it has been given that the donuts produced in 1996 is 13680.
So the number of donuts that are produced in 1999 : 13680+1368(10%) = 15048(Option C)
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pushpitkc
Assume a number for the number of donuts produced in 1996 to make calculations easier.
If that number were 200.

In 1997, there will be an increase of 37.5%, making the total number of donuts produced 275.
In 1998, there will be an decrease of approximately 11.1%, making the number of donuts around 244.2.
In 1999, again since there is a decrease of 10%, the number of donuts is around 220.
So, essentially, there is a 10% increase in the donuts from initial number of 200(in 1996) to 220 in 1999.

Coming back to the problem, it has been given that the donuts produced in 1996 is 13680.
So the number of donuts that are produced in 1999 : 13680+1368(10%) = 15048(Option C)

Thank you for the technique , when I couldn't solve manually I ended up using the calculator. Even then, although I got option C my answer was different from what is given.
Thanks to Bunuel for such a good question.
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Bunuel
Standard Baking Company produced 13,680 donuts in 1996. In 1997, that number increased by 37.5%. In 1998, that number was 88.8(8)% of the number produced in 1997. In 1999, the number was 10% less than in 1998. How many donuts did Standard Baking Company make it 1999?

A. 1881
B. 2131
C. 15048
D. 15236
E. 16074

[96]: 13680=x
[97]: x(11/8)
[98]: x(11/8)(8/9)
[99]: x(11/8)(8/9)(9/10)=x(11/10)=13680(10/10)+13680(1/10)=15048

Answer (C)
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what is the meaning of 88.8(8)% = 88.8%????
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Edg_Tbr
what is the meaning of 88.8(8)% = 88.8%????

A number in parentheses after a decimal point indicates that the sequence of numbers enclosed repeats infinitely. For example, 2.7(25) represents 2.725252525... continuing indefinitely. Therefore, 88.8(8) signifies 88.88888888..., with the digit 8 repeating endlessly.
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These problems are faster to solve when you notice that the percentages are common fractions.

37,5% = 3/8
88,888%= 8/9
90%= 9/10

So, the baking company made (9/10)*(8/9)*(11/8)*13680 donuts in 1999.
We cancel those fractions and we get: 13680*(11/10). Now, given that we know it will be more than 13680, and we will have an 8 in the units digits (as it is 11*1368), then we can pick C without making any calculations :)

Bunuel
Standard Baking Company produced 13,680 donuts in 1996. In 1997, that number increased by 37.5%. In 1998, that number was 88.8(8)% of the number produced in 1997. In 1999, the number was 10% less than in 1998. How many donuts did Standard Baking Company make it 1999?

A. 1881
B. 2131
C. 15048
D. 15236
E. 16074
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how do you determine 37.5 as 3/8? Bunuel please help how to sole this question fast stuck in calculation
exc4libur
Bunuel
Standard Baking Company produced 13,680 donuts in 1996. In 1997, that number increased by 37.5%. In 1998, that number was 88.8(8)% of the number produced in 1997. In 1999, the number was 10% less than in 1998. How many donuts did Standard Baking Company make it 1999?

A. 1881
B. 2131
C. 15048
D. 15236
E. 16074

[96]: 13680=x
[97]: x(11/8)
@[98]: x(11/8)(8/9)
[99]: x(11/8)(8/9)(9/10)=x(11/10)=13680(10/10)+13680(1/10)=15048

Answer (C)
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how do you determine 37.5 as 3/8? Bunuel please help how to sole this question fast stuck in calculation


37.5% = 37.5/100 = 375/1000.

Reduce by 125 to get 3/8.
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Started thinking in terms of fractions here. If you work with bonds you'll know that 4/32 ticks is 12.5 cents, 8/32 is 25 cents, 12/32 is 37.5 cents, etc (ticks are base 32 for those who don't know what I'm talking about, I would assume they started that way because bond spreads are fairly wide, traders tried not to argue over pennies, stocks used to be like this as well in the 80s. The plus stan-- Anyway I'm ranting... )

So I see 37.5 and think 12/32, or 3/8ths, plus one is 8+3 over 8, or 11/8. Any number repeating is x/9, so 8/9. subtracting 10% is multiplying by 9/10ths, said in a different way...

So we have 11/8 * 8/9 * 9/10. Rewrite this to 11/10 * 8/8 * 9/9, the 8 and 9 cancel each other out. Then we plop in our base number, 13,680, multiply by 1.1, or add 1368 to 13680. then we get the magic number-- 15,048.
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