SOLUTION: Bradley took a 15% pay cut when he switched jobs. If he makes $30,600 per year at his new job, what was his annual salary at his previous job? Please list the steps.

Question 784742: Bradley took a 15% pay cut when he switched jobs. If he makes $30,600 per year at his new job, what was his annual salary at his previous job? Please list the steps.
Answer by KMST(5328) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
$= previous job salary
$= decrease in salary (pay cut as $ amount)

You can look at the calculations two ways:

THE SIMPLER WAY (no need to mention algebra; a fifth grader can do it):
Bradley may have compared the new salary to the old salary (dividing the new salary by the old one) and the result was .
That would have told him that the % pay cut was
100% - 85% = 15%
To reverse that calculation, you would start by
100% - 15% = 85% and that would tell you that Bradley is now making only 85% of the previous job salary.
As a fraction, 85% is .
The new salary is of the old one,meaning that it is

Reversing that calculation,
-->
(Simple calculators that have a % key, use the number 0.85 when you enter 85%, so I enter 30600 � 85 %, and I get 36000 without even touching the = key).

ANOTHER WAY OF LOOKING AT IT:
When calculating the percent pay cut, Bradley may have divided the $ amount of the pay cut by the old salary and the result was

In solving that equation, you could multiply both sides of the equal sign times and get an equivalent equation (as long as , which is true in this case).
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(I would write that skipping the steps than seem too obvious, but showing enough steps to satisfy the person who's reading it, or the teacher).
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