Geometry Word Problem, I really don't undertand, help pleasee, exlplaiin! I really need this.?

Question

On August 28, 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. led a march of approximately 250,000 people from the nation’s Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. His speech at the Lincoln Memorial included increasing the minimum wage from $1.15 per hour to $2.00 per hour. Congress increased the federal minimum wage from $1.15 to $1.25 per hour in 1963. The federal minimum wage did not reach $2.00 per hour until 1974. What is the positive difference between the percent increase in the minimum wage passed by congress in 1963 and the percent increase requested by Martin Luther King Jr. in his speech? Express your answer to the nearest tenth.


Assume the federal minimum wage was $1.15 per hour on September 1, 1963 and $2.00 per hour on September 1, 1974. Assume the federal minimum wage increased annually on September 1 by r percent of the previous year’s wage for each of the years during this time period. What is the value of r? Express your answer as a decimal to the nearest tenth

Answer 1

MLK=$0.85 increase
Cong.=$0.10 increase

MLK=0.85/1.15=73.9%
Cong.=0.10/1.15=8.7%
73.9%-8.7%=Difference=65.2%

The years are 11 between the increases
$1.15 +11r=$2.00
11r=$2.00-$1.15
r=.85/11
r=0.0772 or 7.7%

Answer 2

MLK was asking for an increase of 73.9% (an increase of $.85 over a base of $1.15) The increase voted was 8.7% (an increase of $.10 over a base of $1.15) The difference between these two numbers is 65.2%. MLK was asking for a raise that was 65.2% greater (In one sense of the word) On the other hand (depending on the exact phrasing) He was asking for a raise that was 8.5 times as large. The last part wants you to level the raises from 1.15 to 2.00 over 11 years. (I believe amortize is the word) The total raise is 73.9% . You might be tempted to divide this by 11 (getting 6.7 % as the amount raised each year) This is a very wrong answer (unless you are in the 4th grade) because of compounding. Today's calculators do this automatically (but I don't have one handy, and would have to do it the hard way. Using the rule of 72, the annual increase would be approximately 4.8% so if you need to do it the hard way, start there. I'm a bit rusty, run this by a young person if you can before you hand it in. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Okay first figure the percent increase issued by Congress.
They increased min wage from 1.15 to 1.25. That is a .10 increase.
.10 / 1.15 = .087 which equals an 8.7% increase.

MLK requested the increase to be 1.15 to 2.00. That is a .85 increase.
.85 / 1.15 = .7391 which equals a 73.9% increase.

To sum it up, MLK requested a 73.9% increase, and got a 8.7% increase. The positive difference in these two is 65.2%

If you understand this part, the second part should be a breeze...

Answer 4

In the first case -

Congress % = 0.10*100/1.15 = 8.7%

Martin Luther King's % = 0.85*100/1.15 = 73.91%

Positive difference is 73.91-8.7=65.21 ~ 70% (nearest 10th)

In the second case

This is like a compound interest forumula I use the formula

A = P(1 + r)^n

1.15(1+r)^11 = 2

(1+r)^11 = 2/1.15 = 1.74

1+r=11throot of (1.74) = 1.05
r = .05 or 5%