Question 37329: I am having a difficult time with this equation - as the teacher says it is one way, and from what I remember of algebra, it is read something totally different please HELP!!
A pair of shoes sell for $100.00. Employee of the store tells you that the shoes sold for 25% more last week. How much did the shoes cost week ago? (apologies for the grammatical error, this is just word for word.)
my solution that I came up with is that the present price is $100.00, and that the original price is less 25%
so I worked it to being X - .25X = $100.00
making it .75X = $100.00
and then dividing both sides by .75, I resulted in the answer equalling $133.33
The teacher is coming up with $125 as the solution, but when I double check the work, my answer seems to be the correct one, and his comes up to being only 20% more than the resulting answer of $100.00 and not 25% more per the stated portion of the question....please help explain the proper steps and if I am right or not
Found 2 solutions by hydromojo, longjonsilver:
Answer by hydromojo(20)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! the shoes sold for 25% more last week. So that means you're getting them at a lower price this week.
so, last week, price = 25% more than this week.
This weeks price = $100
you need to tack on 25% more on this price for last weeks price
25% of $100 is $25. So, last weeks price was 100+25 = $125
Answer by longjonsilver(2297)  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! shoes now $100. They were originally $x.
ALL precentages work on the ORIGINAL so we figure out what 25% of x is, take this away from x and that has to be 100.
So: start with x
25% of x MEANS (25/100)x which is 0.25x
we take this from x: x-0.25x
so the mathematical bit for the reduction is 0.75x, which you had.
And this equals 100, so 0.75x = 100
--> x = 100/0.75
--> x = $133.33
If your teacher gave $125 as the answer then i hope to God that they are suffering from some mental abberation. If not, and that was their best attempt at this question then they should not be a maths teacher.
Jon.
jon.
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