Question 1104784
the price for cooking oil went up 15%.


if the price was x, then the new price is 1.15 * x.


to get back to x, you have to divide 1.15 * x by 1.15.


therefore, they would have to divide their current usage by 1.15 so that their total cost would be the same as it was before.


for example, let's say the price of cooking oil was 60 cents a quart.


the family uses 10 quarts a week.


their current cost for cooking oil is 10 * .60 = $6.00 a week.


the price goes up 15%, so instead of being 60 cents, it is now 1.15 * 60 = 69 cents.


if their kept their usage the same, their cost would now be 10 * .69 = $6.90 a week.


in order to keep their total cost the same as it was before, they would have to divide their current usage of cooking oil by 1.15.


10 quarts / 1.15 = 8.695652174.


they could only use 8.695652174 quarts of cooking oil a week when they were previously using 10 quarts of cooking oil a week.


8.695652174 * .69 = $6.00.


this is the same cost that they were using before the price went up.