Question

A bookstore manager marks down the price of older hardcover books, which originally sell for b dollars, by 34%. What is the sale price of a hardcover book for which the original price was $47.00?

Answer 1

Answer: The sale price is $31.02.

Explanation:

We can use a proportion to solve the problem.

part/whole = percent/100

Since we are finding the part, we can use the variable x as a placeholder.

As for the whole, the original sale price is the whole, so we will put $47 there.

As for the percent, we are saving 34%, so that is what we will put there. This is what the proportion looks like:

x/$47 = 34/100

Now, we cross-multiply and divide.

34 times 47 = 1,598

1,598 divided by 100 = 15.98

However, $15.98 is not the sale price. It is just the amount of money we saved. To find the sale price. subtract $15.98 from $47 to get $31.02. This is the real answer.