Question 288284
Of course, the area of the original rectangle would be L (length) x W (width) = LW

The new rectangle has a length 15% more than the original, which means that its length is 100 + 15 = 115% of the original rectangle, or 1.15L.
The new rectangle has a width 20% less than the original, which means that its width is 100 - 20 = 80% of the original rectangle, or 0.8W.

To gain the value of the new area, we only need to multiply the new length and width, yielding:
1.15*0.8*LW = 0.92LW

This is 92/100, or 92% of the original rectangle's area. 92% is 8% away from 100%, which means that the new rectangle's area is <b>8 % less</b> (a) than the original.