Question

PLEASE HELP!!
Suppose you pay $88 for a pair of shoes that has been discounted 20%. What is the original price of the shoes before the discount?

Step 1. identify the unknown variable


Step 2 set up a proportion that represents the problem

Step 3 solve the proportion showing all work!

Step 4 clearly state your answer in a complete sentence.

Answer 1

ok what are you trying to find exactly? that is where to start: pick a variable and say what it represents

Answer 2

x would be my variable it represents the original price of the shoes

Answer 3

ok good

Answer 4

then you do not know what x is, but you know what 80% of x is , since if you get a 20% discount you pay \(100%-20%=80\%\) of the price

Answer 5

btw answer above is a common (but unfortunately completely wrong) way to do it

Answer 6

lets continue, see if we can get the right answer

Answer 7

since \(80\%\) of \(x\) is what you know, namely $88 you can write an equation \[0.8x=88\] and solve that by dividing both sides by \(.8\)

Answer 8

11

Answer 9

no \(88\div 8=11\) but \(88\div .8\neq 11\)

Answer 10

do you know how to divide by \(.8\)?

Answer 11

its 0.1

Answer 12

oooh i see, it said "Step 2 set up a proportion that represents the problem" you want a proportion use \[\frac{80}{100}x=88\]

Answer 13

oh dear no, it is not .1
let me know show you how to divide by a decimal \[88\div 0.8=880\div8=110\]