Question

A fancy shirt did not sell at its normal selling price, so the store reduced the price 30% during the spring sale. Since the shirt still didn’t sell, the store reduced the shirt’s sale price 20%. What is the percent price reduction of this new price from the original normal selling price?

Answer 1

Answer: 44%

Explanation:

There are other ways of doing this but here's how I did it:

Starting with an arbitrary price for the shirt of $100, I took 30% off and arrived at $70.

Then 20% off $70 is $56 (20% is one-fifth, so divide 70 by 5 and you get 14. Subtract 14 from 70 and you get 56.

Now subtract 56 from 100 and you get 44, so to get to 56 from 100 you subtract 44%.

You could also use a calculator or google it but that would be missing the point of studying math and benefiting from its practical applications, e.g., how to figure things out for yourself. And that wouldn't be much fun, would it?