A photocopy machine can reduce copies to 90% or 70% of their original size. By copying an already reduced copy, further reductions can be made. Which will be larger, an image that has been reduced on the 90% setting 10 times, or the same image after being reduced 3 times on the 70% setting?
A)The image reduced on the 90% setting
B)The image reduced on the 70% setting

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The image reduced on the 90% setting 10 times results in a size of $0.9^{10}$ of the original, while reducing it on the 70% setting 3 times results in a size of $0.7^3$ of the original. Calculating these, $0.9^{10} \approx 0.3487$ and $0.7^3 = 0.343$, so the image reduced on the 90% setting is slightly larger.

A Photocopy Machine Can Reduce Copies to 90% or 70