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Question

The marked price on a book is ₹1,000. In a book fair, it is available for sale with a discount scheme offering two successive discounts of 12% and 8%. What is the final selling price (in ₹) of the book for a customer (rounded off to the nearest integer)?

This question was previously asked in
SSC CGL 2023 (Tier-II) Paper 1 Previous Year Paper (26-Oct-2023) (Shift-1)
The correct answer is

810

Understanding Successive Discounts on Book Price

This problem involves calculating the final selling price of a book after applying two successive discounts. Successive discounts mean that the second discount is applied not on the original marked price, but on the price after the first discount has been applied.

Let's break down the steps to find the final selling price of the book.

Calculating the Price After the First Discount

The marked price of the book is ​1,000.

The first discount offered is 12%.

First discount amount = 12% of ​1,000

We can calculate this as:

\(\text{Discount}_1 = \text{Marked Price} \times \frac{\text{Discount Rate}_1}{100}\)

\(\text{Discount}_1 = 1000 \times \frac{12}{100} = 1000 \times 0.12 = 120\)

So, the first discount amount is ​120.

The price of the book after the first discount is the marked price minus the first discount amount:

\(\text{Price after Discount}_1 = \text{Marked Price} - \text{Discount}_1\)

\(\text{Price after Discount}_1 = 1000 - 120 = 880\)

The price after the first discount is ​880.

Calculating the Price After the Second Successive Discount

The second discount offered is 8%. This discount is applied to the price after the first discount, which is ​880.

Second discount amount = 8% of ​880

We calculate this as:

\(\text{Discount}_2 = \text{Price after Discount}_1 \times \frac{\text{Discount Rate}_2}{100}\)

\(\text{Discount}_2 = 880 \times \frac{8}{100} = 880 \times 0.08\)

To calculate \(880 \times 0.08\):

\(880 \times 0.08 = (800 + 80) \times 0.08 = (800 \times 0.08) + (80 \times 0.08)\)

\(= 64 + 6.4 = 70.4\)

So, the second discount amount is ​70.4.

The final selling price is the price after the first discount minus the second discount amount:

\(\text{Final Selling Price} = \text{Price after Discount}_1 - \text{Discount}_2\)

\(\text{Final Selling Price} = 880 - 70.4 = 809.6\)

The final selling price before rounding is ​809.6.

Rounding Off the Final Selling Price

The question asks us to round off the final selling price to the nearest integer.

The calculated price is ​809.6.

  • The digit after the decimal point is 6.
  • Since 6 is 5 or greater, we round up the integer part.

​809.6 rounded to the nearest integer is ​810.

Therefore, the final selling price of the book for the customer is ​810.

Alternative Method Using Effective Discount Rate

Successive discounts can also be calculated using a single effective discount rate. If two successive discounts are \(d_1\%\) and \(d_2\%\), the effective discount rate \(D\%\) is given by:

\(D = d_1 + d_2 - \frac{d_1 \times d_2}{100}\)

In this case, \(d_1 = 12\%\) and \(d_2 = 8\%\).

\(D = 12 + 8 - \frac{12 \times 8}{100}\)

\(D = 20 - \frac{96}{100}\)

\(D = 20 - 0.96\)

\(D = 19.04\%\)

The effective discount rate is 19.04%.

Now, calculate the total discount amount based on the original marked price:

\(\text{Total Discount} = \text{Marked Price} \times \frac{D}{100}\)

\(\text{Total Discount} = 1000 \times \frac{19.04}{100} = 1000 \times 0.1904 = 190.4\)

The total discount amount is ​190.4.

The final selling price is the marked price minus the total discount:

\(\text{Final Selling Price} = \text{Marked Price} - \text{Total Discount}\)

\(\text{Final Selling Price} = 1000 - 190.4 = 809.6\)

Rounding ​809.6 to the nearest integer gives ​810.

Both methods yield the same final selling price, ​810.

Summary of Successive Discount Calculation

Item Value
Marked Price ​1000
First Discount Rate 12%
Amount after 12% Discount (\(1000 \times (1 - 0.12)\)) ​880
Second Discount Rate 8%
Final Selling Price (\(880 \times (1 - 0.08)\)) ​809.6
Rounded Final Selling Price (Nearest Integer) ​810

Revision Table: Key Concepts for Successive Discounts

Concept Explanation
Marked Price (MP) The original price of an item before any discounts.
Selling Price (SP) The price at which an item is sold after discounts.
Discount A reduction in the marked price. Usually expressed as a percentage.
Successive Discounts Applying one discount after another, where each subsequent discount is calculated on the reduced price, not the original marked price.
Calculation Method 1 Apply discounts one by one on the current price.
Calculation Method 2 Calculate the single effective discount rate for successive discounts and apply it to the marked price. Effective discount is less than the sum of individual discounts.

Additional Information on Discounts and Pricing

Understanding discounts is crucial in commercial mathematics and real-life shopping scenarios. Successive discounts are common in sales, especially during festive seasons or clearance events. It's important for customers to understand how these discounts are applied to calculate the final price correctly.

  • A single discount of the sum of successive discounts (e.g., 12% + 8% = 20%) would result in a lower selling price than successive discounts. In this case, a 20% discount on ​1000 would be ​200, leading to a final price of ​800. This is different from the ​810 calculated with successive discounts, highlighting that successive discounts are generally less beneficial than a single discount equal to their sum.
  • The order of applying successive discounts does not affect the final selling price. Applying 8% first and then 12% would yield the same result: \(1000 \times (1 - 0.08) \times (1 - 0.12) = 1000 \times 0.92 \times 0.88 = 920 \times 0.88 = 809.6\).

Calculating final prices accurately ensures you know the actual cost of an item on sale.

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Similar Questions

  1. A shopkeeper gains 20% in place of 16% loss if the selling price of an article is increased by Rs. 324. The cost price of the article is:

  2. A table was bought for Rs. 3,000 and sold for Rs. 3,200. Find the gain or loss in terms of money.

  3. By selling a watch for Rs. 2,000, a shopkeeper loses 20%. How much would he gain or lose by selling it for Rs. 3,000?

  4. If the cost of 120 m of cloth is Rs. 9,600, then what will be the cost of 147 m of that cloth? 

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  8. The price of an article is increased by r%. The new price was decreased by r% later. Now the latest price is Rs. 1. What was the original price of the article?

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Important Questions from Profit and Loss

  1. Ram bought a chair at 35% discount on its market price, Had Ram got no discount, he would have had to pay ₹245 more. How much did Ram pay for the chair? 

  2. A shopkeeper bought an item for Rs. 4,500 and sold it at a loss of 5%. From this money, he bought another item and sold it at a profit of 10%. What is his overall profit?

  3. A man sells two articles at Rs. 9,180 each. He gains 8% on one article and loses 15% on the other. His overall profit or loss is:

  4. A shopkeeper selling an article for ₹46 loses 8%. In order to gain 6%, what should be the selling price of the article?

  5. Rahul purchased 80 items from the market. 25% items of the total items were defective and the remaining items were sold at 50% profit. What will be the overall profit percentage?

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