Question

The selling price for a classic speedboat is $18,000, which is $500 less than two times its original price. What was the original price of the speedboat?

Answer 1

Let O be the original price of the speedboat and let S be the selling price. We have that the selling price is 18,000, then:

`S=18000`

We know that the selling price is $500 less than two times its original price. 2O represents two times the original price, then:

`S=2O-500`

Now we substitute the value of S and solve for O:

`\begin{gathered} S=18000 \\ S=2O-500 \\ \Rightarrow18000=2O-500 \\ \Rightarrow18000+500=2O \\ \Rightarrow18500=2O \\ \Rightarrow O=(18500)/(2)=9250 \\ O=9250 \end{gathered}`

Therefore, the original price was $9250