Could you please explain why, when increasing something, you put a 1 in front of it?

Question

For example, if something is increased by 5%, why do you multiply by 1.05?

What exactly does that 1 mean or represent?

Thank you.

Answer 1

if I have 100 dollars
and increase that by 5%
I then have
100*1 + 100*0.05
which is
100 (1.05)

Answer 2

The 1 represents 100% of something. It's the whole.

If you need to find the new price of something that has increased by 5%, you want to know what 5% is plus the original price.

For instance, if the original price was $20 and it's increased by 5%, then you need to multiply by 1.05 to find the new price.

20 * 1.05 = 21

Answer 3

( distributive property :)