Question

Javier works in a photo lab and needs to make a reduced copy of a photograph that is 8" long. The customer wants the copy to have 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 4.5 inches. Who is right. What is the size of the copy?

Answer 1

Javier's boss is correct. Pressing the button five times will result in a length of 4.22 inches.