Question

A major athletic footwear company had about \(\$ 3750\) million in sales of athletic footwear during the year ending May 31,1997 . The company's sales fell to about \(\$ 3500\) million in \(1998 .\) By how much did the company's sales decrease?

Short answer

The company's sales decreased by \$250 million from 1997 to 1998.

Step-by-step solution

Understand the problem

The problem is asking how much the sales of a company decreased from one year to another. In 1997, the company's sales were \$ 3750 million, and in 1998 they fell to \$ 3500 million. The difference between the sales in these two years represents how much the sales decreased.

Subtract the sales in 1998 from the sales in 1997

To find the decrease in sales, subtract the amount of sales in 1998 from the sales in 1997: \(\$ 3750\) million - \(\$ 3500\) million.

Perform the subtraction

Performing the subtraction gives \(\$ 3750\) million - \(\$ 3500\) million = \(\$ 250\) million.