Test Yourself
Can you beat the puzzle master? (Plus: find answers to Sunday’s puzzle.)
MATHS WEEK is under way and, as is our annual tradition, we’re setting our readers some puzzles. Give them a go! You can check out other events being held over the next week here.
Money Sense
People have always learned to count their money and, importantly, check their change from an early age, thus learning and practising arithmetic and developing “money sense”.
More often now, young people are not getting practice with cash and many teachers have noticed less fluency with arithmetic.
Maths Week has teamed up with Ireland State Savings to develop and deliver Money Sense resources to primary schools across Ireland to promote numeracy and financial awareness.
Test your financial maths skills with today’s challenges.
1) You buy an item for €100 and sell it for €80. You buy it back for €110 and sell it for €130. Have you made a profit overall?
2) You buy an item for €120 and sell it for €144, what percentage profit do you make?
3) An item is priced at €100. It is reduced by 20% in a sale. Towards the end of the sale it is reduced by a further 20%. How much does it cost then?
4) An item is marked €120. It is to be reduced by 50% for the sale. After this it is increased by 50%. How much will cost be then?
5) Two bureaux de change offer different charges. The first gives an exchange rate of 1.18 €/£ and charges a fee of £5, the second charges no fee and offers a rate of 1.23 €/£. You want to change €300 to sterling, which one should you choose?
6) You sell two items for €120 each. On one, you make a 20% profit, on the other a 20% loss. How have you fared overall?
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Sunday’s puzzles: the answers
1.
a) 220 lb
b) 25 kg
c) 83.33 kg or 183.33 lb
2.
Using 1 kg = 2.2 lb
Call my weight X in kg.
In pounds, my weight is 2.2X.
We also have more information I noticed that:
2X=X+100
So:
2.2X – X = 100
1.2X=100
X = 100/1.2
X = 83.333 which is my weight in kg and 100 + 83.333 = 183.333 in lbs.