A video game that usually costs $30.65 is marked down 60%. Kelvin determined that the new price of the game would be $18.39. Look at Kelvin’s work and find his error.

Question

($30.65)(0.60) = $18.39

Answer 1

Kelvin's calculation contains an error in how he calculated the discounted price of the video game.

To find the new price after a 60% markdown, we should first calculate the amount of the discount and then subtract that amount from the original price.

1. Calculate the amount of the discount: \[ \text{Discount} = \text{Original Price} \times \text{Discount Percentage} = 30.65 \times 0.60 = 18.39 \] This part is correct; the discount itself is indeed $18.39.

2. Subtract the discount from the original price to find the new price: \[ \text{New Price} = \text{Original Price} - \text{Discount} = 30.65 - 18.39 \] We calculate the new price: \[ 30.65 - 18.39 = 12.26 \]

Therefore, the new price of the game after the 60% markdown should be $12.26, not $18.39. Kelvin's error was in assuming that the price after the discount is equal to the discount amount, rather than subtracting the discount from the original price.