SAT Math : Percentage

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #1207 : Sat Mathematics

Margaret has been given a gift card with $150 worth of credit on it. She wants to spend it at the store where her father works, because she will get a 12 1/2 % employee's family discount. Also, the sales tax at the store is 8%.

The price tag on a pair of shoes that she wants to buy there says $200.00. If Margaret decides to buy the shoes and use the credit on her gift card, how much will she have to pay out of her own pocket?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Margaret is getting a 12 1/2 %, or 12.5 %, discount off a $200 pair of shoes; this is

Subtract this discount from the price of the shoes; Margaret will pay 

,

excluding sales tax.

8% of this price is 

,

which, when added to the price, yields 

.

Margaret has $150 of credit on her gift card, so she will pay 

out of her own pocket.

Example Question #21 : Sale Prices

A two-liter bottle of Zippy Zuppy soda costs $1.49. However, as part of a promotion to mark its ninth anniversary, if nine or more bottles are purchased, the store is offering a savings of 19%.

Jerry purchases two two-liter bottles each of Zippy Zuppy cola, Zippy Zuppy strawberry soda, Zippy Zuppy grape soda, and Zippy Zuppy orange soda. After a sales tax of 5.5%, how much will Jerry pay for the soda (nearest cent)?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Jerry is purchasing  bottles of soda; since he needs to purchase nine bottles to get the discount, he will pay full price, which, before tax, is

.

The sales tax is 5.5% of this, or

 (rounded to the nearest cent)

Add this:

,

which is what Jerry will pay.

Example Question #161 : Percentage

The price of a coffeemaker has been marked down 20% for a clearance sale. Tom buys the coffeemaker with a $10.00 coupon and pays $134.44. Give the price of the coffeemaker before the markdown and excluding the coupon. 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

A coupon is applied to the sale price of an item, so the first deduction is the clearance markdown.

Let  be the original price of the coffeemaker. The appliance has been marked down 20%, which means that the sale price is

.

The coupon takes $10 off the price, so the coffeemaker sells for 

 dollars. Set this equal to the actual cost of the coffeemaker, $134.44:

Solving for :

,

the correct response is 

Example Question #162 : Percentage

A two-liter bottle of Zippy Zuppy soda costs $1.39. However, as part of a promotion to mark its sixteenth anniversary, if ten or more bottles are purchased, the store is offering a savings of 16%.

Floyd purchases six two-liter bottles of Zippy Zuppy cola, four two-liter bottles of Zippy Zuppy ginger ale, and two two-liter bottles of Zippy Zuppy orange soda. After a sales tax of 6.5%, how much will Floyd pay for the soda (nearest cent)?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Floyd purchases  bottles of soda, so he will get the discount. Before the discount, the price of the soda is

The amount of the discount is 16% of this, or (rounding to the nearest cent)

making the price before tax

.

The sales tax is 6.5% of this, or (again, rounding to the nearest cent)

Add this:

,

the amount Floyd pays.

Example Question #163 : Percentage

The price of a pair of shoes after a 15% clearance discount and a 20% employee discount is $113.74. 

Give the price of the shoes before the two discounts (nearest cent).

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Call the price of the shoes before the two discounts . A reduction in price by 15%, which is the clearance discount, is equal to 

A subsequent reduction in price by 20%, which is the employee discount, is 

Set this quantity equal to the price of the shoes after the two discounts, $113.74, and solve for  by dividing by 0.68:

To the nearest hundredth:

The price of the shoes before the discounts was $167.26.

Example Question #164 : Percentage

Katy buys jeans that is on sale for $84. The tag says that the price was originally $142. What discount is she receiving on the shirt? Round to the nearest tenth of a percent.

Possible Answers:

None of the other answer options.

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Use proportions and cross-multiply to find the percentage of the cost that she is paying, then subtract that answer from the original price to solve for the discount.

If she is paying 59.2% of the regular cost, then subtract that figure from 100%.

100% - 59.2% = 40.8%

You could also set up the proportion so that you could arrive at the answer after cross-multiplying by subtracting 84 from 142 as the first step.

Example Question #17 : Percentage

A sunglasses kiosk at the mall makes a $50 profit for every 6 pairs of sunglasses it sells.  How many pairs of sunglasses must it sell to earn $1000 profit?

Possible Answers:

20

300

120

100

30

Correct answer:

120

Explanation:

Divide the profit per 6 pairs into the total desired profit $1000/$50 = 20. 

Multiply 20 by 6 sunglasses = 120 sunglasses.  Or use 6/50 = x/1000 and solve for x.

Example Question #2 : How To Find Amount Of Profit

Ricky works at a shoe shop, and earns $40 in commission for each pair of shoes he sells plus a $100 weekly salary. If Ricky receives no other money, which of the following expressions represents the total dollar amount Ricky receives for a week in which he sells n shoes?

Possible Answers:

40(100 + n)

140n

140 + n

100 + n

100 + 40n

Correct answer:

100 + 40n

Explanation:

If Ricky sells n shoes in a week, he earns $40n in commission. His salary is a constant $100 per week, so his total payout is $100 + $40n.

Example Question #2 : Profit Margin

An entrepreneur started a company making floggles.  The factory requires $1000 worth of fixed expenses to keep it running every month.  She is able to produce one floggle at the cost of $4 and sell one floggle at the cost of $6.  If she produces and sells 500 floggles in one month, what is her profit?

Possible Answers:

$1000

$0

$3000

$2000

$4000

Correct answer:

$0

Explanation:

Profit = Income - Expenditures

Income = $6/floggle times 500 floggles = $3000

Expenditures = $1000 + $4/floggle times 500 floggles = $1000 + $2000 = $3000

Profit = 3000 - 3000 = 0

Example Question #3 : How To Find Amount Of Profit

You are planning a New Year’s Eve bash.  For each person attending, the caterer will charge you $15 for food, $10 for beverages, $5 for service.  The band charges $2000 for the entire evening.  You also have to pay the venue $2500 to rent the location for the night and $3 for parking for each attendee.  If you expect 500 people to attend and you would like to make a $10000 profit for planning the event, how much must each ticket cost?

Possible Answers:

$62

$53

$33

$60

$42

Correct answer:

$62

Explanation:

First determine total cost.

Caterer: Per person = $15 + $10 + $5 = $30 per person

Parking: Per person = $3 per person

Total per person = $33

$33 * 500 people = $16,500

Plus cost of renting venue + band = $2500 + $2000 = $4500

Total (net) cost =  $16,500 + $4500  = $21,000

Total (gross) cost = net cost + profit = $21,000 + $10,000 = $31,000

Cost per ticket = Gross cost / # of attendee = $31,000 / 500 = $62

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