Last year, revenue at Store Z was $12\%$ greater i... | Free GMAT Practice Question | GMAT Panda

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Question

Last year, revenue at Store Z was 12% greater in February than in January, 18% less in March than in February, 25% greater in April than in March, 5% less in May than in April, and 8% greater in June than in May. In which month were revenue figures closest to those in January?

Answer Choices

A. $February$
B. $March$
C. $April$
D. $May$
E. $June$

Steps

Explanation	Calculations	Help
$We name variables for each month's revenue to avoid ambiguity.$	$Jan = revenue in January Feb = revenue in February Mar = revenue in March Apr = revenue in April May = revenue in May Jun = revenue in June$	Theory & Tactics Method Card TRANS1-A Click to view full details
$We translate "12\% greater in February than in January" into a multiplication factor.$	$Feb = 1.12 \times Jan$	Theory & Tactics Method Card TRANS2-D Click to view full details
$We translate "18\% less in March than in February" into a multiplication factor.$	$Mar = 0.82 \times Feb$	Theory & Tactics Method Card TRANS2-D Click to view full details
$We translate "25\% greater in April than in March" into a multiplication factor.$	$Apr = 1.25 \times Mar$	Theory & Tactics Method Card TRANS2-D Click to view full details
$We translate "5\% less in May than in April" into a multiplication factor.$	$May = 0.95 \times Apr$	Theory & Tactics Method Card TRANS2-D Click to view full details
$We translate "8\% greater in June than in May" into a multiplication factor.$	$Jun = 1.08 \times May$	Theory & Tactics Method Card TRANS2-D Click to view full details
$We express each month's revenue as a multiple of January by chaining the factors and rounding for simplicity.$	$Feb = 1.12 \times Jan Mar = 0.82 \times (1.12 \times Jan) = 0.9184 \times Jan \approx 0.92 \times Jan Apr = 1.25 \times (0.9184 \times Jan) = 1.1480 \times Jan \approx 1.15 \times Jan May = 0.95 \times (1.1480 \times Jan) = 1.0906 \times Jan \approx 1.09 \times Jan Jun = 1.08 \times (1.0906 \times Jan) = 1.1778 \times Jan \approx 1.18 \times Jan$	Theory & Tactics Method Card CALC1-B Click to view full details
$We calculate each month's deviation from January by finding the absolute difference of its factor from 1.$	$∣1.12 - 1.00∣ = 0.12 ∣0.9184 - 1.00∣ = 0.08 ∣1.1480 - 1.00∣ = 0.15 ∣1.0906 - 1.00∣ = 0.09 ∣1.1778 - 1.00∣ = 0.18$
$We see that 0.08 is the smallest deviation, so March's revenue is closest to January's.$

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Final Answer

B

Question

Last year, revenue at Store Z was 12% greater in February than in January, 18% less in March than in February, 25% greater in April than in March, 5% less in May than in April, and 8% greater in June than in May. In which month were revenue figures closest to those in January?

Answer Choices

A. $February$
B. $March$
C. $April$
D. $May$
E. $June$

Steps

Explanation	Calculations	Help
$We name variables for each month's revenue to avoid ambiguity.$	$Jan = revenue in January Feb = revenue in February Mar = revenue in March Apr = revenue in April May = revenue in May Jun = revenue in June$	Theory & Tactics Method Card TRANS1-A Click to view full details
$We translate "12\% greater in February than in January" into a multiplication factor.$	$Feb = 1.12 \times Jan$	Theory & Tactics Method Card TRANS2-D Click to view full details
$We translate "18\% less in March than in February" into a multiplication factor.$	$Mar = 0.82 \times Feb$	Theory & Tactics Method Card TRANS2-D Click to view full details
$We translate "25\% greater in April than in March" into a multiplication factor.$	$Apr = 1.25 \times Mar$	Theory & Tactics Method Card TRANS2-D Click to view full details
$We translate "5\% less in May than in April" into a multiplication factor.$	$May = 0.95 \times Apr$	Theory & Tactics Method Card TRANS2-D Click to view full details
$We translate "8\% greater in June than in May" into a multiplication factor.$	$Jun = 1.08 \times May$	Theory & Tactics Method Card TRANS2-D Click to view full details
$We express each month's revenue as a multiple of January by chaining the factors and rounding for simplicity.$	$Feb = 1.12 \times Jan Mar = 0.82 \times (1.12 \times Jan) = 0.9184 \times Jan \approx 0.92 \times Jan Apr = 1.25 \times (0.9184 \times Jan) = 1.1480 \times Jan \approx 1.15 \times Jan May = 0.95 \times (1.1480 \times Jan) = 1.0906 \times Jan \approx 1.09 \times Jan Jun = 1.08 \times (1.0906 \times Jan) = 1.1778 \times Jan \approx 1.18 \times Jan$	Theory & Tactics Method Card CALC1-B Click to view full details
$We calculate each month's deviation from January by finding the absolute difference of its factor from 1.$	$∣1.12 - 1.00∣ = 0.12 ∣0.9184 - 1.00∣ = 0.08 ∣1.1480 - 1.00∣ = 0.15 ∣1.0906 - 1.00∣ = 0.09 ∣1.1778 - 1.00∣ = 0.18$
$We see that 0.08 is the smallest deviation, so March's revenue is closest to January's.$

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Final Answer

B