Last summer, I saw this confusing Sales sign in Macy's:

75% off original prices
when you take an extra 50% off
already reduced prices


What was the percent of the first reduction?


Solution to the Problem:

The item was already reduced by 50%.

If you took 50% off the original price, and then you took 50% of what was left (50%), you would have reductions of 50% and 25% off the original for 75%.
Using algebra,
let x = original price
let R * x = reduced price
The final price is .25 x
Hence, .5 R x = .25 x
so, R = .5 or 50%, and the amount of discount is 100 - 50 = 50%.


Correctly solved by:

1. Jason LaRusso Winchester, Virginia