Percent decrease problem

GRE Quant Problem Solving
1

What number equals 60 after being decreased by 40%?

I am having difficulty understanding the solution. Can someone please explain this to me?

Let this number be x. We are told that 0.6x =60
so, x= 60/.6, so x=100

2

When a number is decreased by a percentage, we multiply the specified percentage by the number and with that resulting product, we subtract that from the original number being decreased.

Let’s unravel that wordiness with some numbers:

60 being decreased by 40% is equivalent to:

60 - (60(0.40)) \rightarrow 60 - (24) = \boxed{36}

Steps:

  1. Find the percent that decreases / increases the original number.
  2. Convert that percentage to a decimal (divide by 100)
  3. Multiply the number being decreased / increased by the decimal. Keep that product somewhere.
  4. If increasing, add the product to the original number. If decreasing, subtract that product from the original number.
3

I think you misunderstood the question. 60 is the result of some number being decreased by 40%. So the problem is to find the original number before it was decreased by 40%.