Percent of Change

The percent that a value

increases or decreases
 Vocabulary
(Section 5.7 in book)

• A percent of change is:

– a ratio that compares the change in a
quantity to the original amount.

• For a percent of change, the proportion used is:

percent of change amount of change


100 original amount
 Ex 1) The Mitchell family bought a house several years
ago for $120,000. This year, they sold it for $150,000.
Find the percent of increase in the price of the house.

A percent of increase is a percent of change amount of change


percent of change. 100 original amount

Subtract the house values to x  $150,000  $120,000

find the amount of change. 100 $120,000

x  $30,000
Use the starting price as the 100 $120,000
original amount.
120,000 x  100(30,000)
x  25%
The price of the house increased by 25%.
 Ex 2) Mercer Middle School had 240 students last year.
This year, there are 192 students enrolled. Find the
percent of change in the number of students. Is this a
percent increase or a percent decrease?

The percent of change is a percent of change amount of change


percent of decrease. 100 original amount

Subtract the number of students x  240  192

to find the amount of change. 100 240

Use the earlier number of x  48

students as the original amount. 100 240
240 x  ( 48)100
x  20%

The number of students decreased by 20%.

 Ex 3) The average speed of the winning Year Speed
(mph)
race cars in the Indy 500 are shown in
1922 94
the table. Find the percent of change in
1955 128
speed from 1955 to 2010. Round your
2010 162
answer to the nearest whole percent.
The percent of change is a percent of change amount of change

percent of increase. 100 original amount

Subtract the speeds between x  162  128

1955 and 2010 to find the 100 128
amount of change.
x  34
Use the average speed from 100 128
1955 as the original amount. 128 x  (34)100
x  27%

The average speed increased by approximately 27%.