M7MBA wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 15, 2021 2:56 pm

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

Answer: B

Source: Official Guide

Let J = # of employees in Jan
So, 1.15J = # of employees in Dec

This means that 1.15J = 460
So, J = 460/1.15 = 400

Answer: B

ASIDE: Many people will conclude that, if the December population is 15% greater than the January population, then it must be the case that the January population is 15% less than the December population. If you have this common misconception then you would have (incorrectly) answered A

To better understand the issue, examine the following example:
A = 100
B = 150
Notice that B is 50% greater than A. HOWEVER, A is not 50% less than B. In fact, A is 33 1/3% less than B.

For more on this misconception, read the following article: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/articles/co ... 93-part-ii


Cheers,
Brent