Problem:
Northside's Drum and Bugle Corps raised money for a trip. The drummers and bugle players kept separate sales records. According to the double bar graph, in what month did one group's sales exceed the other's by the greatest percent?
Answer Choices:
A. Jan
B. Feb
C. Mar
D. Apr
E. May
Solution:
Compute the ratios for each month:
MonthJan:Feb:Mar:Apr:May:​Drums75998​Bugles9361210​Diff.22332​Diff.: Lower2:72:33:63:92:8​% exc.29%67%50%33%25%​​
Thus the percent is greatest in February.
Note. Students can estimate the required ratio by visually comparing the difference between the columns to the shorter column.
Answer: B​.
The problems on this page are the property of the MAA's American Mathematics Competitions
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