sandy wrote:
In a certain store, computer X costs 30 percent more than computer Y, and computer Y costs 30 percent more than computer Z.
Quantity A: The cost of computer X minus the cost of computer Y.
Quantity B: The cost of computer Y minus the cost of computer Z.
Here's another approach:
Computer Y costs 30 percent more than computer Z.Let z = cost of computer Z
So, cost of computer Y = z + (30% of z)
= z + 0.3z
=
1.3zASIDE So, increasing a value by 30% is the same as multiplying that value by 1.3
Similarly, increasing a value by 20% is the same as multiplying that value by 1.2
And increasing a value by 78% is the same as multiplying that value by 1.78
etc
Computer X costs 30 percent more than computer YThe cost of computer Y =
1.3zSo, cost of computer X = (1.3)(
1.3z)
=
1.69zSUMMARY:
Cost of computer X =
1.69zCost of computer Y =
1.3zCost of computer Z = z
We get:
QUANTITY A:
1.69z -
1.3zQUANTITY B:
1.3z - z
Simplify to get:
QUANTITY A: 0.39z
QUANTITY B: 0.3z
Since z must be POSITIVE, we can safely divide both sides by z to get:
QUANTITY A: 0.39
QUANTITY B: 0.3
Answer: A
Cheers,
Brent