14. An employee earned a 20% raise. Their new salary is $60000. How much was their salary before the raise?
Answer: A
The employee's salary before the raise was $50,000.
To find the salary before the raise, we can determine that the new salary of $60,000 represents 120% of the original salary. Thus, dividing $60,000 by 1.2 gives us the original salary of $50,000.
A) 50000
This option is correct because if the original salary was $50,000 and a 20% raise was applied, the calculation would be $50,000 plus $10,000 (which is 20% of $50,000), resulting in the new salary of $60,000.
B) 12000
This option is incorrect as it is significantly lower than what the original salary could be. A salary of $12,000 would not logically lead to a $60,000 salary even with a 20% raise, as this only results in an increase to $14,400.
C) 72000
This option is incorrect because an original salary of $72,000 would lead to a new salary of $86,400 after a 20% raise, which does not match the given new salary of $60,000.
D) 48000
This option is incorrect as it would result in a new salary of $57,600 after a 20% raise. This is not equal to the new salary of $60,000, indicating that $48,000 is not the correct original amount.
Conclusion
The correct original salary of $50,000 accurately reflects the salary after applying a 20% raise, resulting in the new salary of $60,000. All other options fail to meet the criteria set by the raise percentage, confirming that they are not viable answers.