Question

During a sale at a department store, the price of a sofa is marked down by 30%. Two weeks later, the price is marked down another 30%. The sales person tells a customer that the new price is 60% below the original price. Is this correct? If not, find the actual total markdown.

Answer 1

The claim that the sofa is discounted by 60% is incorrect. After applying two successive 30% discounts, the sofa is actually marked down by a total of 51% from the original price.

Step-by-step explanation:

The sales person's claim that the new price is 60% below the original price is not correct. To find the actual total markdown, we need to apply the successive discount calculations.

Let's assume the original price of the sofa is $100. After a 30% markdown, the new price becomes $100 - ($100 \times 0.30) = $100 - $30 = $70. Two weeks later, another 30% markdown is applied, but this time it's on the discounted price of $70, not the original price. So, the second markdown is $70 \times 0.30 = $21. Therefore, the final price after both markdowns is $70 - $21 = $49.

The actual total markdown from the original price is $100 - $49 = $51, so the percentage markdown is ($51 / $100) \times 100 = 51%. Therefore, the sofa is discounted by 51% in total, not 60%.