Calculate the Final Price: Air Conditioner’s Cost After 10% Increase and 15% Decrease

Sequential Percentage Changes with Dollar Values

The price of an air conditioner is 2500 dollars. At the beginning of the summer season, its price increased by 10% and at the end of the season its price decreased by 15%.

What is the price of the air conditioner at the end of the season?

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Step-by-step video solution

Watch the teacher solve the problem with clear explanations
00:00 Determine the final price
00:08 Determine the price after summer inflation
00:24 Convert from percentages to fractions, and multiply by the original price
00:37 Break down 2500 into factors of 25 and 100
00:42 Reduce wherever possible
00:51 This is the discount that needs to be added to the original price
01:10 This is the price after the summer inflation
01:15 Now let's calculate 15 percent of this price
01:28 Convert from percentages to fractions, and multiply by the price
01:38 Break down 2750 into factors of 55 and 50
01:43 Break down 100 into factors of 50 and 2
01:53 Reduce wherever possible
02:09 Subtract the discount from the summer price and calculate to find the price
02:32 This is the solution

Step-by-step written solution

Follow each step carefully to understand the complete solution
1

Understand the problem

The price of an air conditioner is 2500 dollars. At the beginning of the summer season, its price increased by 10% and at the end of the season its price decreased by 15%.

What is the price of the air conditioner at the end of the season?

2

Step-by-step solution

To solve this problem, we will walk through each step sequentially:

  • Step 1: Calculate the price after a 10% increase.

  • Step 2: Calculate the price after a 15% decrease from the increased price.

Now, let's work through these steps:
Step 1: The original price of the air conditioner is \2500 \). When the price is increased by 10%, the new price is calculated as follows: New price after 10% increase=2500×(1+10100)=2500×1.10=2750 \text{New price after 10\% increase} = 2500 \times \left(1 + \frac{10}{100}\right) = 2500 \times 1.10 = 2750

Step 2: This increased price of \2750isthendecreasedby15Final price after 15% decrease=2750×(115100)=2750×0.85=2337.52750 is then decreased by 15%. The new price after this decrease is calculated by:</p><p><span class="katex">\( \text{Final price after 15\% decrease} = 2750 \times \left(1 - \frac{15}{100}\right) = 2750 \times 0.85 = 2337.5

Therefore, the price of the air conditioner at the end of the season is 2337.5 2337.5 dollars.

3

Final Answer

2337.5 $

Key Points to Remember

Essential concepts to master this topic
  • Rule: Apply percentage changes step by step, not simultaneously
  • Technique: First increase: 2500 × 1.10 = 2750, then decrease: 2750 × 0.85
  • Check: Final result should not equal original × 0.95 since changes aren't equal ✓

Common Mistakes

Avoid these frequent errors
  • Combining percentage changes incorrectly
    Don't calculate 10% - 15% = -5% and apply to original price = $2375! Sequential changes don't add/subtract directly because the second change applies to the already-changed amount. Always apply each percentage change to the result of the previous step.

Practice Quiz

Test your knowledge with interactive questions

Calculate 30 over 100 as a percentage:

FAQ

Everything you need to know about this question

Why can't I just subtract 15% - 10% = 5% from the original price?

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Because percentage changes are sequential, not simultaneous! The 15% decrease applies to the increased price of 2750,nottheoriginal2750, not the original 2500. This makes a big difference in your final answer.

How do I calculate a percentage increase correctly?

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To increase by 10%, multiply by 1.10 (which is 1 + 0.10). For any percentage increase, use 1+percentage100 1 + \frac{\text{percentage}}{100}

How do I calculate a percentage decrease correctly?

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To decrease by 15%, multiply by 0.85 (which is 1 - 0.15). For any percentage decrease, use 1percentage100 1 - \frac{\text{percentage}}{100}

What would happen if the order of changes was reversed?

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You'd get a different answer! If we decreased first (15%) then increased (10%): 2500 \times 0.85 \times 1.10 = \2337.50 \). Interestingly, it's the same because multiplication is commutative!

Is there a shortcut to solve this in one step?

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Yes! You can multiply the original price by both factors at once: 2500 \times 1.10 \times 0.85 = \2337.50 \). This works because you're applying both changes sequentially.

How can I check if my answer makes sense?

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The final price should be less than the original since the 15% decrease is larger than the 10% increase. Also, verify: 2337.50isindeedlessthan2337.50 is indeed less than 2500

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