At a sale, a shop was offering a 20% discount for a pair of shoes. Customers can purchase a second pair of shoes at 50% discount. Scott paid $156 for 2 identical pairs of shoes. How much did each pair of shoes cost before the discount?
To find out how much each pair of shoes cost before the discount, we can first analyze the information given.
Let's assume the original price of each pair of shoes is x dollars.
Since there is a 20% discount on the first pair of shoes, Scott would have paid 80% (or 0.8) of the original price for the first pair.
So, the cost of the first pair of shoes after the discount is 0.8 * x dollars.
For the second pair of shoes, customers can purchase it at a 50% discount. Therefore, the cost of the second pair after the discount is 0.5 * x dollars.
Scott paid $156 for both pairs of shoes, so we can write an equation based on the information:
0.8 * x + 0.5 * x = $156.
Combining like terms, the equation becomes:
1.3 * x = $156.
Now, divide both sides of the equation by 1.3 to solve for x:
x = $156 รท 1.3.
Using a calculator, we find that x is approximately $120.
Therefore, each pair of shoes originally cost $120 before the discount.