The profits of QRS company rose 10% from March to April, the

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Mike@Magoosh: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 768; Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2011 4:18 pm; Location: Berkeley, CA; Thanked: 387 times; Followed by:140 members

The profits of QRS company rose 10% from March to April, the

by Mike@Magoosh » Mon Sep 30, 2013 10:59 am

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The profits of QRS company rose 10% from March to April, then dropped 20% from April to May, then rose 50% from May to June. What was the percent increase for the whole quarter, from March to June?
(A) 15%
(B) 32%
(C) 40%
(D) 62%
(E) 80%

Do you see the trap in this question? Answer choice [spoiler]C[/spoiler] is the trap for while many naive test-takers will fall. For a bank of percent practice problems, with the OA & explanation for this particular question, see:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/gmat-quant ... -percents/

Mike

Magoosh GMAT Instructor
https://gmat.magoosh.com/

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Problem Solving | Mon Sep 30, 2013 10:59 am

rakeshd347: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 391; Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2013 5:13 am; Thanked: 50 times; Followed by:4 members

by rakeshd347 » Mon Sep 30, 2013 4:52 pm

Mike@Magoosh wrote:The profits of QRS company rose 10% from March to April, then dropped 20% from April to May, then rose 50% from May to June. What was the percent increase for the whole quarter, from March to June?
(A) 15%
(B) 32%
(C) 40%
(D) 62%
(E) 80%

Do you see the trap in this question? Answer choice [spoiler]C[/spoiler] is the trap for while many naive test-takers will fall. For a bank of percent practice problems, with the OA & explanation for this particular question, see:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/gmat-quant ... -percents/

Mike

Answer should be B

let X be the profit at the start of the quarter.
Then in the progressive months the profit will be X*1.1*0.8*1.5=1.32 X
This means total change is 32%

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irfanali: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 10; Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2007 5:07 am; Thanked: 1 times; Followed by:1 members; GMAT Score:650

by irfanali » Mon Sep 30, 2013 5:32 pm

Dear Mike,

Thanks for posting the question.

Assuming Sales in March was 100.
April rose by 10% viz. 110
May dipped by 20% viz. 88
June rose by 50%, viz 132

Hence, The Growth of sales from April to June = 32%. Hence, Answer Choice is B.

Cheers,
Irfan.

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GMAT/MBA Expert

Scott@TargetTestPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 8086; Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2015 10:56 am; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 43 times; Followed by:29 members

Re: The profits of QRS company rose 10% from March to April, the

by Scott@TargetTestPrep » Fri May 01, 2020 3:06 am

Mike@Magoosh wrote: ↑
Mon Sep 30, 2013 10:59 am
The profits of QRS company rose 10% from March to April, then dropped 20% from April to May, then rose 50% from May to June. What was the percent increase for the whole quarter, from March to June?
(A) 15%
(B) 32%
(C) 40%
(D) 62%
(E) 80%

We can let the profit in March be 100. So the profit in April is 100 x 1.1 = 110, the profit in May is 110 x 0.8 = 88, and the profit in June is 88 x 1.5 = 132, which is a 32% increase from 100.

Answer: B

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder and CEO
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