Question

Over one year a company's sales increased 20% and its expenses decreased 20%. The ratio of sales to expenses at the end of that year was how many times the ratio at the beginning of that year?

Answer 1

The ratio is `1.5` times the ratio at the beginning of that year.

Explanation:

Let `s_1 ,s_2` be the sales at beginning and 1 year after.
and `e_1 ,e_2` be the expenses at beginning and 1 year after.
Due to increased sale by `20%:. s_2 =1.2*s_1` and
Due to decreased expenses by `20%:. e_2 =0.8*e_1 :. s_2/e_2=(1.2*s_1)/(0.8*e_1)= 1.5*(s_1/e_1):.`The ratio of sale and expenses is `1.5` times the ratio at the beginning of that year.[Ans]