An employee earned a 20% raise. Their new salary is $60000. How much was their salary before the raise?

Rationale

The employee's salary before the raise was $50,000.

To determine the original salary before a 20% raise, we can use the formula for calculating the new salary based on the old salary. Let the original salary be $ x $. After a 20% raise, the new salary becomes $ x + 0.2x = 1.2x $. Setting this equal to $60,000 gives $ 1.2x = 60,000 $, leading to $ x = 50,000 $.

A (50000) CORRECT

This choice is correct as it accurately reflects the original salary before the 20% raise. When calculated, $ 50,000 \times 1.2 = 60,000 $, confirming that this was the salary prior to the increase.

B (12000) YOUR ANSWER

This amount is too low to be the original salary. If the original salary were $12,000, a 20% raise would result in an increase of $2,400, leading to a new salary of only $14,400, which is far less than $60,000.

C (72000) YOUR ANSWER

Choosing $72,000 as the original salary would imply a significant raise. A 20% increase from $72,000 would result in a new salary of $86,400, which is again much higher than the stated new salary of $60,000.

D (48000) YOUR ANSWER

While $48,000 is a reasonable salary, it fails to yield the correct new salary when a 20% raise is applied. A 20% increase on $48,000 results in $57,600, which does not match the new salary of $60,000.

Conclusion

The calculation confirms that the original salary of the employee was indeed $50,000. This amount allows for the correct computation of a 20% raise, resulting in the new salary of $60,000. The other options do not align with the given conditions and demonstrate how crucial it is to apply percentage increases accurately in salary calculations.

An employee earned a 20% raise. Their new salary is $60000. How much was their salary before the raise?

The employee's salary before the raise was $50,000.

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