Please look below...the whole question does not fit in this space. (BTW, I had to put a question mark, so here it is...?)
Farmer Fred grows only two crops, watermelons, and pumpkins. Last year, he harvested 400 watermelons and 500 pumpkins. This year, he harvested 20% more watermelons, but 40% fewer pumpkins. Which of the following is the closest to the percent change in Farmer Fred's total harvest from last year to this year?
A: A decrease of 15%
B: A decrease of 13%
C: No Change
D: An increase of 7%
I tried multiplying both of the percent changes, but it couldn't bring me to the answer.
Farmer Fred grows only two crops, watermelons, and pumpkins. Last year, he harvested 400 watermelons and 500 pumpkins. This year, he harvested 20% more watermelons, but 40% fewer pumpkins. Which of the following is the closest to the percent change in Farmer Fred's total harvest from last year to this year?
A: A decrease of 15%
B: A decrease of 13%
C: No Change
D: An increase of 7%
I tried multiplying both of the percent changes, but it couldn't bring me to the answer.
1 Answer
B: A decrease of 13%
Explanation:
Fred's last year harvest of watermelons = 400
This year he had 20% more watermelons
Therefore, This year he had 20% more watermelons = 400 x 1.2
= 480 ....(1)
Fred's last year harvest of pumpkins = 500
This year he had 40% less pumpkins which is to say that he had only 60% of the pumpkins as compared to last year.
Therefore, This year Fred had 60% of pumpkins from last year
= 500 x 0.60 = 300.....(2)
Fred's total produce this year = (1) + (2) = 480+300 = 780
Fred's total produce last year = 400+500 = 900
So, change in Fred's harvest this year as compared to last year
= 900 - 780 = 122
So, % decrease in harvest this year =
= 13.55%
