Question

A buys a bicycle at a certain price, then sells it to B at a profit of 40%. Then B sells it to C and incurs a 40% loss. If C pays Rs. 4200 for it, how much would A have bought the bicycle for?

Answer 1

To find the price at which A bought the bicycle, we reverse the transactions. After calculating the selling prices at each stage, we deduce that A must have bought the bicycle for Rs. 5000.

Step-by-step explanation:

To solve this problem, we need to work backward from the price C paid to find out the original price A paid for the bicycle. C paid Rs. 4200 to B after B incurred a 40% loss. This means that Rs. 4200 is 60% of the price B sold the bicycle for, since 100% - 40% loss = 60% remaining.

We can calculate the price B sold the bicycle for using the following equation:

0.60 * (Price B sold it for) = Rs. 4200

(Price B sold it for) = Rs. 4200 / 0.60

(Price B sold it for) = Rs. 7000

Now, we know B originally purchased the bicycle at a 40% profit, which implies that Rs. 7000 is 140% of the price A sold it to B for. To find the price A sold it for, we have:

1.40 * (Price A sold it for) = Rs. 7000

(Price A sold it for) = Rs. 7000 / 1.40

(Price A sold it for) = Rs. 5000

Therefore, A must have bought the bicycle at Rs. 5000.