Question

An elephant weighed 14,000 pounds. The handlers realized the elephant was overweight and put it on a special meal plan. The elephant lost 2,100 pounds. What was the percent of decrease in its body weight

Answer 1

To calculate the percent decrease in body weight, we need to determine the difference between the initial weight and the weight after the weight loss, and then divide that by the initial weight. Finally, we multiply the result by 100 to obtain the percentage.

Initial weight: 14,000 pounds
Weight after weight loss: 14,000 pounds - 2,100 pounds = 11,900 pounds

Percent decrease = (14,000 pounds - 11,900 pounds) / 14,000 pounds * 100 = 2,100 pounds / 14,000 pounds * 100 ≈ 15.00%

Therefore, there was a roughly 15.00% decrease in the elephant's body weight.