Percentage unchanged
If the base of a rectangle is increased by 10% and the area is unchanged, by what percentage is the width decreased by ?
Problem
If the base of a rectangle is increased by 10% and the area is unchanged, by what percentage (exactly) is the width decreased by ?
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Student Solutions
Answer: 9.09090...%
Using scale factors
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Using algebra
The area of the original rectangle was $wb$
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The area of the altered rectangle is $pw \times 1.1b$
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Since the two areas are equal,
$1.1 pwb = wb$
so
$1.1 p = 1$
so $p = \frac{1}{1.1} = \frac{10}{11}$
So the width is $\frac{10}{11}$ of its original value, so it has been decreased by $\frac1{11}$, which as a percentage is $9$ and $\frac1{11}\%$, or $9.09\%$ to 2.d.p.