Mr. Jones makes 3% commission on his sales of widgets. At a different company,

Question

Mr. Smith makes 5% commission selling the same widgets at the same price. Mr. Smith
sold 500 fewer widgets than Mr. Jones, and they both earned the same commission.
How many widgets did Mr. Smith sell?

Answer 1

number for Mr Jones ---- x
number for Mr Smith ---- x-500

.03x = .05(x-500
.03x = .05x - 25
-.02x = -25
x = 1250

Mr. Jones sold 1250 widgets and Mr. Smith sold 750

check:
.03(1250) = 37.5
.05(750) = 37.5