SOLUTION: If you buy something for 10% off, and then get another 15% taken off of the sale price, is that the same as taking off 25% of the original price. Explain using an example.(I believ

Algebra ->  Customizable Word Problem Solvers  -> Finance -> SOLUTION: If you buy something for 10% off, and then get another 15% taken off of the sale price, is that the same as taking off 25% of the original price. Explain using an example.(I believ      Log On

Ad: Over 600 Algebra Word Problems at edhelper.com


    

Question 1150773: If you buy something for 10% off, and then get another 15% taken off of the sale price, is that the same as taking off 25% of the original price. Explain using an example.(I believe no, but got the part of the example wrong on my test)
Found 2 solutions by Ojas866, jim_thompson5910:
Answer by Ojas866(1) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
This is not the same and here's why:
25% of 100
=25 vs 10% of 100=10
15% of 10=1.5

Answer by jim_thompson5910(35256) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!

Example:

Let's say an item costs $100.

Apply the 10% discount. This means you save $10 and the item is now worth $90. We can see that $10 is 10% of $100. You can think of it as "you save 10% but pay the remaining 90%".

Now apply the 15% discount. This means we save 15% but still have to pay 85% of the remaining value. Apply 85% to $90 and we get 0.85*90 = 76.50

--------------------------------------------------------

We started with $100 and ended up at $76.50
That's a difference of 100 - 76.50 = 23.50

So that's an overall discount of 23.5/100 = 23.5%

While this is close to 25%, its not quite there. It would be nice if the percentage discounts added up like 10%+15% = 25%, but unfortunately it doesn't work. You have the correct thinking in saying the answer is "no".