Question

Jessica bought a desktop computer and a laptop computer. Before finance charges, the laptop cost $250 less than the desktop. She paid for the computers using two different financing plans. For the desktop the interest rate was 7% per year, and for the laptop it was 8% per year. The total finance charges for one year were $325. How much did each computer cost before finance charges

Answer 1

Let desktop cost = x

Let laptop cost = x - 250

According to equation:

(x*7)/100 + (x-250)*8/100 = 325

7x + 8x - 2000 = 32500

15x = 32500+2000

15x = 34500

x = 2300

Desktop cost before finance charge = $2,300

Laptop cost before finance charge = $2,050 ($2,300-$250)