Question

The average cost for a gallon of gasoline increased from $2.56 one year to $3.18 the next year. What is the percent of increase, rounded to the nearest whole number?

Answer 1

The change from `$2.56` to `$3.18` is an increase of `24%`.

Explanation:

To find percent of change, use the formula:

`(present value - old value)/(present value) * 100%`

If the answer is negative, the change was a decrease. If the answer is positive, the change is an increase.

In this case, we obtain

`(3.18 - 2.56)/2.56 * 100%`

`0.62/2.56 * 100%`

`0.2421875 * 100%`
`24.21875%`

Rounding to the nearest whole number and since this result is positive, the percent of change is an increase of `24%`.