Question

A store is going out of business Everything is marked down 40%. How much do you pay now for an item that used to cost $150?

Answer 1

You now pay $90 for an item that used to cost $150.

Explanation:

Let's call the price we are looking for `p`.

We can then write an equation to calculate `p` as the original price ($150) less 40% of the original price (40% of $150) or:

#p = 150 - (40% of 150)

"Percent" or "%" means "out of 100" or "per 100", Therefore 40% can be written as `40/100`. Also, when dealing with percents the word "of" means "times" or "to multiply".

Therefore we can rewrite our equation and solve for `p` while keeping the equation balanced:

`p = 150 - (40/100 * 150)`

`p = 150 - (6000/100)`

`p = 150 - 60`

`p = 90`