Question

George bought a tree to put in this living room. He paid $50 for the tree. After he took it home, he realized it was too tall and sold it to his neighbor for $60. His neighbor put lights on the tree and then decided the tree was too wide for the room. George look at the tree again and offered to buy the tree back for $70. George cut two feet off the bottom of the tree and when he stood it up, he was no longer please with the tree. He sold it for $80 to another neighbor. What was George’s financial outcome from this adventure?

Answer 1

Answer: 20$$

Explanation:

He started with -50 from buying the tree, he got out of negatives by selling for 60 and gained 10 dollars. Then he bought it for 70 so his balance was -60, then he sold it for 80 so it gave him 20$

Answer 2

Overall, George's financial outcome is a gain of $20.

Explanation:

George invested $50 into his tree, which put him at a loss of -50. When he first sold the tree for $60, he made an overall profit of $10, or -50+60=10. When he bought back the tree, he spent another $70, or -70 which left him with an overall debt of $60, or 10-70= - 60. The second time he sold the tree for $80, he made an overall profit of $20 given that his investment in the tree was then at -60 and he sold the tree for $80, or -60 + 80 = 20.