Question

A store sold a case of scented candles for $17.85 that had been marked up 110%. What was the original price?

Answer 1

The original price was $16.23

Explanation:

We can rewrite this problem as:

110% of what is $17.85.

"Percent" or "%" means "out of 100" or "per 100", Therefore 110% can be written as `110x/100`.

When dealing with percents the word "of" means "times" or "to multiply".

Finally, lets call the number we are looking for "n".

Putting this altogether we can write this equation and solve for `n` while keeping the equation balanced:

`110/100 xx n = $17.85`

`100/110 xx 110/100 xx n = 100/110 xx $17.85`

`cancel(100)/cancel(110) xx cancel(110)/cancel(100) xx n = ($1785)/110`

`n = $16.23` rounded to the nearest penny.