In 2008, a certain factory produced 25% more widgets than it

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BTGmoderatorDC: Moderator; Posts: 7187; Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2017 4:43 pmFollowed by: 23 members

by BTGmoderatorDC » Tue Jul 02, 2019 8:42 pm

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In 2008, a certain factory produced 25% more widgets than it did in 2007. In 2009 the company’s production of widgets was 120% of its production in 2008. By approximately what percent would its production need to decrease the following year for the factory to produce the same number of widgets it did in 2007?

A. 33%
B. 45%
C. 50%
D. 64%
E. 67%

OA A

Source: Veritas Prep

Source: Beat The GMAT — Problem Solving | Tue Jul 02, 2019 8:42 pm

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Ian Stewart: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2623; Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2008 3:17 amFollowed by: 355 members; Location: Montreal; Thanked: 1090 times; GMAT Score:780

by Ian Stewart » Wed Jul 03, 2019 4:07 am

If we start with 100 widgets in 2007, we have 125 in 2008, and then (1.2)(125) = 150 in 2009. For this to decrease to 100, it needs to fall by 50, or by 50/150 = 33 1/3 %.

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Scott@TargetTestPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 8246; Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2015 10:56 amFollowed by: 29 members; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 43 times

by Scott@TargetTestPrep » Sat Jul 06, 2019 5:09 pm

BTGmoderatorDC wrote:In 2008, a certain factory produced 25% more widgets than it did in 2007. In 2009 the company’s production of widgets was 120% of its production in 2008. By approximately what percent would its production need to decrease the following year for the factory to produce the same number of widgets it did in 2007?

A. 33%
B. 45%
C. 50%
D. 64%
E. 67%

OA A

Source: Veritas Prep

We can let the number of widgets produced in 2007 be 100. Thus the number of widgets produced in 2008 is 100 x 1.25 = 125, and the number of widgets produced in 2009 is 125 x 1.2 = 150. To bring 150 back to 100, we need to decrease the production by:

(150 - 100)/150 x 100 = 50/150 x 100 = 1/3 x 100 = 33 ⅓ percent

Answer: A

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