Question

At a sale this week, a desk is being sold for $697. This is a discount from 15% the original price.

What is the original price?

Answer 1

Original price = $820

Explanation:

We know that the product of the discount percentage and the original price subtracted from the original price = the new price as

O - (15% * O) = N, where

• O is the original price
• 0.15 is 15% as a decimal,
• and N is the new price.

Thus, if we allow O to represent the original price and plug in 697 for N, we can find O, the original price:

O - (0.15O) = N

O - (0.15O) = 697

O - 0.15O = 697

0.85O = 697

O = 820

Checking our answer:

We can check our answer by making sure that 15% (aka 0.15) of 820 is 697.

0.15 * 820 = 697

697 = 697

Thus, we've correctly identified the original price.