Javier works in a photo lab and needs to make a reduced copy of a photograph that is 8 inches long. The customer wants the copy to have a length of 4.5 inches. Each time he presses the reduce button on the copier, the copy is reduced by 12%. Javier and his boss had an argument, because Javier claimed that pressing the button 5 times would be enough to fulfill the customer's request. His boss said that pressing the button 5 times would result in a length less than the desired 4.5 inches. Which of the following conclusions can be made?

Question

Javier works in a photo lab and needs to make a reduced copy of a photograph that is 8 inches long. The customer wants the copy to have a length of 4.5 inches. Each time he presses the reduce button on the copier, the copy is reduced by 12%. Javier and his boss had an argument, because Javier claimed that pressing the button 5 times would be enough to fulfill the customer's request. His boss said that pressing the button 5 times would result in a length less than the desired 4.5 inches. Which of the following conclusions can be made?
A Javier is correct and he should press the button five times.
B Javier's boss is correct and he should press the button five times.
C Javier is correct and he should not press the button five times.
D Javier's boss is correct and he should not press the button five times
explain your answer

GPT 3.5 · Answer

D. Javier's boss is correct and he should not press the button five times.

If Javier were to press the button five times, the length of the photograph would be reduced by a total of 12% x 5 = 60%. This would result in a length of 8 inches * (1-0.60) = 3.2 inches, which is less than the desired 4.5 inches. Therefore, Javier should not press the button five times in order to fulfill the customer's request.