Question

Lisa bought a desk on sale for $437. This price was 24% less than the original price. What was the original price?

Answer 1

The price paid was 437 and this was 24% less than the original price. That means that the amount paid, which is $437 represents 76% of the original price.

If the original price is x, then we have;

$\begin{gathered} \frac{437}{x}=\frac{76}{100} \\ \frac{437}{x}=0.76 \\ \text{Cross multiply and you have;} \\ \frac{437}{0.76}=x \\ 575=x \end{gathered}$

This means the original price was $575

Note how we arrived at the equation

The original price was 100% while the sales price was 76%.

Therefore, 437 over the original price, is the same as 76% over 100%