SAT Percentages Practice Question 11 (Medium)

Math · Problem-Solving and Data AnalysisMedium

The value of an investment decreased by $20\%$ during one year. By what percent must the value increase during the next year to return to its original value?

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Answer: 25

Suppose the original value is $100$ . After a $20\%$ decrease, the value is $80$ . To get back to $100$ , it must increase by $20$ , and $\frac{20}{80} = 0.25$ , which is a $25\%$ increase.

Answering $20$ assumes the increase is a percent of the original value, but it's a percent of the smaller, decreased value.

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