Question

Maria and Edwin have $23.00 each to spend at a book fair, where all students receive a 25% discount. They both want to purchase a copy of the same book, which normally sells for $26.50 plus 10% sales tax. To check if she has enough to purchase the book, Maria takes 25% of $26.50 and subtracts that amount from the normal price. She takes 10% of the discounted selling price and adds it back to find the purchase amount. Edwin takes 75% of the normal purchase price and then computes 110% of the reduced price. Is Maria correct? Is Edwin correct? Do they have enough money to purchase the book? Explain your answer using complete sentences.

Answer 1

The way Maria calculates the final price of the book is correct. We know that the book normally sells for $26.50 plus a 10% sales tax. We also know that the students will receive an additional 25% discount. We must understand that the sales tax is applied to the discounted price. So first we will calculate 25% of 26.50 and subtract it from that amount. So the price will then be: (26.50 - 6.625). The price is now $18.34. Then to calculate the tax, it will be (10% * 18.34), so 1.834. We add this amount to the discounted price so: (18.34+1.834) = 20.12.

The final price of the book is $20.12 and Maria can get it and still save a little money.