QRCicon.gif (2722 bytes)

Group Activity 8
Successive Percents

Please do the following at the beginning of every computer activity.

a. Open a new Word document.

b. Click on the Office Button in the upper left corner, then slide over "Save As".   Choose either "Word Document" to save your document as a Word 2007 document or "Word 97-2003 document" to save your document in an early version of Word.  If you are not sure which to choose, you should use "Word 97-2003 document".  Save the document to the desktop by setting the "Save in" textbox to "Desktop". (Saving to the desktop makes it easy to retrieve your work when you are finished.)  Your file name should be entitled something like "Group Activity 5".  Last, confirm the save as type in the last box.  (*.docx) is the suffix for a Word 2007 document.  (*.doc) is the suffix for early versions of Word.

Activity

Everyone shops, especially before the holidays!  It is common for stores to offer items on sale at a certain percentage off.  It is becoming increasingly popular for stores to offer items at an additional percentage off the sales price.  This a copy of an ad from a Kohl's where many items in the store were 50% off the original price. Senior Citizens received an additional 15% of the sale price.

 1. a.  Suppose you purchase an item from the Trim-A-Tree shop for $75.00 (original price).  What is the sale price?

b.  Senior citizens (age 62 and older) were eligible for a senior discount.  Assume someone over age 62 purchased the same item on sale (originally $75.00) and received an additional 15% off the sale price.  What price do senior citizens pay for the same item from the Trim-A Tree Shop?

c.  How much do senior citizens save in total on this item (absolute change)? 

d.  What was the senior citizen's total percentage savings (percentage change)?

e.  As store manager, you are asked to make a list of sales items including their original price, the sale price (50% off) and price after the senior citizen discount (an additional 15% off after the 50% off).  You are trying to attract more senior citizens to your store.  Fill in the follow table in sample of savings.xls.  Use formulas and fill the columns; don't just type in the answers.  Paste the completed table in your word document. 

f. Does the amount of savings depend on the price?  Does the overall percentage of savings depend on the price?  Explain.

2.  a. Your boss says that the company is struggling and that he needs to cut your salary by 20%.  He promises that in 6 months he will raise your new pay by 20%.  Does this restore your original salary?  Show your calculations.

b. If the salary was decreased by 20%, by what percent would it need to be increased in order to restore your original salary?

3. Last year, it was bad news:  the value of your investment plunged by 50%.  This year was much better:  your investment increased in value by 75%.  Over the two-year period, has your investment shown a gain or lost?  Show your work.

4.  The value of stocks can vary dramatically.  Suppose a stock decreases in value by 50% one year.  The next year it increases by 50%.  By how many percent has the value of the stock changed over the two year period?  Give your answer and briefly describe your reasoning.