Question 7·Easy·Percentages
During a weekend sale, every item in a clothing store is discounted by 15%. What is the sale price, in dollars, of a jacket originally priced at $60?
For percent discount problems, first find the discount by multiplying the original price by the decimal form of the percent (for 15%, use 0.15), then subtract that amount from the original price. To work faster without a calculator, break the percent into easy parts (like 10% and 5% of the original) and combine them, then subtract the total discount from the starting price.
Hints
Understand what a discount means
A 15% discount means the store is reducing the price by 15% of the original price. What number should you calculate 15% of?
Compute the discount amount
Find 15% of 60. You can find 10% of 60, then 5% of 60, and add them together.
Apply the discount to the original price
Once you know how many dollars the discount is, should you add that number to 60 or subtract it from 60 to get the sale price?
Desmos Guide
Use Desmos to compute the sale price
In the expression line, type 60*(1-0.15) or 60*0.85. The value that Desmos outputs is the sale price of the jacket after the 15% discount.
Step-by-step Explanation
Interpret the 15% discount
A 15% discount means the price is reduced by 15% of the original price. So first, find 15% of .
Find 15% of 60
To find 15% of , you can think of it as .
Break it into easier parts:
- 10% of 60 is .
- 5% of 60 is half of 10%, which is .
So 15% of 60 is dollars. This is the amount of the discount.
Subtract the discount from the original price
Now subtract the discount from the original price:
So the sale price of the jacket is $51.