A desk is on sale for 24% off. The sale price is $437. What is the regular price?
The correct answer and explanation is:
To find the regular price of the desk, you need to calculate the price before the 24% discount was applied. You can do this by using the formula:
Regular Price = Sale Price ÷ (1 – Discount Percentage)
Given the sale price is $437 and the discount is 24%, first convert the percentage into a decimal by dividing by 100:
24% ÷ 100 = 0.24
Now subtract that from 1:
1 – 0.24 = 0.76
Next, divide the sale price by 0.76 to find the original price:
Regular Price = 437 ÷ 0.76
Regular Price ≈ 575
So, the regular price of the desk was approximately $575 before the discount was applied.
Explanation:
When an item is on sale for a certain percentage off, the sale price represents the portion of the regular price that is still to be paid. In this case, 76% of the original price is what you’re paying (100% – 24% = 76%). To calculate the regular price, you reverse the calculation by dividing the sale price by 0.76. This ensures you find the price before the discount was applied.
Discounts are often expressed as percentages, and it’s important to understand that the sale price is always a percentage of the original price. So, by dividing the sale price by the remaining percentage, you can easily backtrack to the regular price.