<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>I just finished a test in the Barrons SAT guide and i still cannot understand why i got this math problem wrong. can you guys help me out and tell me why the book's answer is right as opposed to mine?</p>
<p>Q. When the price of gold went up, a jeweler raised the prices on certain rings by 60%. On one ring, however, the price was accidentally reduced by 60%. By what percent must the incorrect price be increased to reflect the proper new price?</p>
<p>My answer was 400% (since you would have to quadruple 40 dollars to make it 160 assuming that the original price of the gold was 100 dollars) but the book says the correct answer is 300%. Why is this??</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Sounds like a typo :)</p>
<p>The correct answer is 300%. Take your example, with the ring initially selling for $100, and inadvertently reduced to $40. The correct price should be $160–you are right on all of this. But the question is “by what percent must the incorrect price be increased?” The increase needed to bring $40 to $160 is $120, which is 300% of $40.
The $40 that the ring is currently labeled “counts” toward the final price of $160.</p>
<p>My mind isn’t working too well at the moment but this might be it:</p>
<p>Increase = Correct price - wrong price = 160 - 40 = 120
Increase % = Increase/Original price * 100 = 120/40 * 100 = 300%</p>
<p>Edit: Dammit!</p>
<p>Ah wow wording >.></p>