Question 1026996: A photocopier increases the sides of a square in the ratio 2:3. What percentage increase is this? Answer by Theo(13342) (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! let a = the length of the side of the original square.
let b = the length of the side of the increased square.
you get the ratio a/b = 2/3.
solve for b to get b = 3/2 * a.
since 3/2 = 1.5, then you get b = 1.5 * a
b is 1.5 * the size of a.
the increase is calculated by subtracting a from b.
b - a is equivalent to 1.5 * a - a because b = 1.5 * a.
1.5 * a - a becomes equal to .5 * a.
the increase is .5 * a which is equivalent to 50% * a.
a is increased by 50% of a to get b which is equal to 150% of a.
for example:
assuming a is equal to 10.
it is increased by 50% of 10 which means it is increased by 5.
the new side length is 10 + 5 = 15.
the new side length is equal to 150% of 10 which is equal to 1.5 * 10 which is equal to 15.
