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coolfield7
Nov 13, 2013, 02:41 AM
Hi, I need some help in math.

In my textbook there is a question which says, "Peter bought an antique chest for $600 and was forced to sell it for $500. Find the loss as a percentage of the cost price."

What I understand by this is find the loss and stat that loss as a percentage, is this right?
In the textbook it says Loss = Cost price - Selling price

So he lost $100 but how do I convert this into a percentage? I've studied percentages pretty well on Khan Academy but the questions in my textbook are extremely idiotic and they don't even show how to do questions like these.

Thanks!

ebaines
Nov 13, 2013, 08:38 AM
The percentage loss is the ratio of the loss to the original cost. You already calculated the loss as $100, and you know the original cost is $600, so the ratio of loss to the cost is 100/600 = 1/6. Now convert this to percent: 1/6 x 100% = 16.7%. Hope this helps.

coolfield7
Nov 13, 2013, 12:20 PM
The percentage loss is the ratio of the loss to the original cost. You already calculated the loss as $100, and you know the original cost is $600, so the ratio of loss to the cost is 100/600 = 1/6. Now convert this to percent: 1/6 x 100% = 16.7%. Hope this helps.
Ahhhhhh ok! Thank you. You helped a lot! One other thing, 16.7% what is that representing? He lost 16.7% of his money? What is it and how would you state it?

coolfield7
Nov 17, 2013, 09:42 PM
This is weird... I got an email saying Subjecteachers has responded to my question but I don't see their answer anywhere here. Does anyone else see Subjecteachers's answer? Is this a glitch?

ebaines
Nov 18, 2013, 06:48 AM
This is weird... I got an email saying Subjecteachers has responded to my question but I don't see their answer anywhere here. Does anyone else see Subjecteachers's answer? Is this a glitch?

That post was deleted for violating site rules regarding advertising.

coolfield7
Nov 18, 2013, 07:03 AM
That post was deleted for violating site rules regarding advertising.
Ohhh ok; thanks!