1956 AHSME Problems/Problem 2

Revision as of 17:05, 31 December 2015 by Vmath215 (talk | contribs) (Solution)

Problem #2

Mr. Jones sold two pipes at $\textdollar{ 1.20}$ each. Based on the cost, his profit on one was

$20$% and his loss on the other was $20$%. On the sale of the pipes, he:

$\textbf{(A)}\ \text{broke even}\qquad \textbf{(B)}\ \text{lost }4\text{ cents} \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ \text{gained }4\text{ cents}\qquad \\ \textbf{(D)}\ \text{lost }10\text{ cents}\qquad \textbf{(E)}\ \text{gained }10\text{ cents}$

Solution

For the first pipe, we are told that his profit was 20%. In other words, he sold the pipe for 120% or $\frac{6}{5}$ of its original value. This tells us that the original price was $\frac{5}{6} * 1.20 = '$'1.00$

See Also