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MAT-144 · In-person sections Exam 1 Review · Unit 1
Exam 1 Review · Q17

Finding the sale price given the original price and percent discount

Take a percent off a price and report what is left. One multiplication if you use the right multiplier, and the right multiplier is what you PAY, not what comes off.

01 Worked Example Video

Every step of Finding the sale price given the original price and percent discount explained on video. Pause anywhere; the embed scrolls independently of the page.

YOUTUBE
02 What This Looks Like on ALEKS

ALEKS randomizes the numbers each attempt, but the question shape stays the same. Here are three example versions you might see.

The ALEKS version

An item is regularly priced at $93. It is on sale for 40% off the regular price.

What is the sale price? Type just the number.

$
A smaller discount

A jacket is regularly $260 and is 15% off.

What is the sale price? Type just the number.

$
Going up instead

A part costs $84 and a 25% surcharge is added.

What is the total? Type just the number.

$
Heads up: Your ALEKS version will use different numbers. The numbers in the practice below are different too — that way you're exercising the move, not memorizing one answer.
03 The Rule
40% off means you pay 60% the multiplier is what remains
sale price = original × (1 − rate) one step, no subtraction needed
You can do it in two moves — find the discount, then subtract it — and that always works. But the one-step multiplier is faster and it is the same idea behind the successive-markup question and both of the working-backwards questions on this exam. Worth making automatic.
Common slips
(1) Answered with the discount. The amount taken off is not the sale price. This is the single most common way to lose the mark. (2) Multiplied by the discount rate. 35% off is × 0.65, not × 0.35. (3) Subtracted the percent from the price. 148 − 35 = 113 treats a percentage as dollars.
04 Practice — Step by Step
What is left, not what comes off

An item is regularly priced at $148. It is on sale for 35% off the regular price.

What is the sale price?

Step 1

Which multiplier?

35% comes off. What fraction of the price do you actually pay?
Step 2

The sale price

148 × 0.65.
$
Step 3

Check it the long way

Confirm it: what is 35% of $148, and does $148 minus that match?
$
▸ Related Mini Lessons
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MAT-144 · EXAM 1 REVIEW · Q17 OF 20