if a customer receives a 15% discount on a $200.00 item, what is the final cost?

Question

If a customer receives a 15% discount on a $200.00 item, what would be his or her final cost?

 

Answer 1

What is 15% of 200? 

 

If you're having trouble calculating this, remember that "percent" means for each 100. If you have an increment of 100 that you're taking a percent of, you can treat this very literally:

 

5% of 400       is five for each of those four hundreds: 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 20

 

13% of 300     is thirteen for each of those three hundreds: 13 + 13 + 13 = 39

 

7% of 100       is seven for that one hundred: 7

 

21% of 200     is 21 for each of those two hundreds: 21 + 21 = 42

 

So 15% of 200 should be...?

 

Once you find this, note that the 15% is a discount, which means that it's coming OFF of the price. To find the final cost, subtract the number you find from the original price, 200.

 

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A more general way to find a percent of a number is to rewrite it as a decimal or fraction and then multiply it by the thing you're taking the percent of.

 

For example 5% is the same thing as 5/100 is the same thing as 0.05. So 5% of 400 is 0.05(400) = 20

 

21% is the same thing as 21/100 or 0.21. So 21% of 200 is 0.21(200) = 42

 

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Reply if any problems.