an merchant

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defeated_soldier

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Apr 15, 2006
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A merchant purchases 25% more goods spending Rs 240 after the price of the goods fall by 20%. What are the old and new prices of the goods respectively ?


how do i go about this problem ?
 
Name Stuff.

N = New Price
P = Old Price

Now what?
 
>>A merchant purchases 25% more goods spending Rs 240 ....

this is confusing to me.

does it mean he has spent EXTRA 240 rs to buy more goods ?

does it mean he has spent IN TOTAL 240 rs including the cost of extra goods.


Even if i assume the priceas N and P as the new and old price ,..what can i do with this ? because i dont know the amount of goods has been bought.....so, if assume that x amount has been bought......then there would be 3 unknown variables N,P and x .........and it is difficult solve because there are 3 unknowns .


any way out ?


thanks for ur response.

defeated_soldier
 
Why does it matter how many unknown quantities are introduced? Introduce as many as necessary.

"A merchant purchases 25% more goods spending Rs 240 after the price of the goods fall by 20%. What are the old and new prices of the goods respectively?"

Old Prices

Spend 240 on Some goods.

New Prices

Spend 240 on 125% of what would have been purchased previously.


N = New Price
P = Old Price
X = Old Goods Amount

Old Prices

240*P = X

New Prices

240*N = X*1.25

"price of the goods fall by 20%"

N = 0.8*P

Giving:

240*P = X
240*(0.8*P) = X*1.25

You just have to keep looking. Make sure you use ALL the pertinent information. Do NOT give up because you don't see the solution. It's OK to set things up and let the notation help you. That's one point of good notation. It will help you organize your thoughts.
 
I think....

>240*P = X
is wrong ,

because if X is the amount and P is the price , then X*P=240

similarly othr equation is also wrong by the above logic....is not it ?

and also

>240*P = X
>240*(0.8*P) = X*1.25

if i replace the value of X in the second equation, we cant get the value of P....because P will cut from both sides.

what should i do ?
 
See how much you can accomplish when you think about it rather than panic.

Very good. I stand corrected. Now solve it and gain some confidence.
 
original price = p, original number = n
pn = 240
.8p(1.25n) = 240 : pn = 240

So no unique solution.
 
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