I need help understanding the following problem.Can someone please explain the steps to solve this problem? Thank you in advance.
"A merchant made a profit of $5 on the sale of a sweater that cost the merchant $15. What is the profit expressed as a percent of the merchant's cost?"
the merchant bought a sweater for $15 (his cost)
he sold it for $5 more than he paid for it (his profit)
his profit is equal to what percent of his cost
... $5 is what percent of $15
To solve this problem, you need to find the percentage profit that the merchant made on the cost of the sweater. Here are the steps to solve it:
Step 1: Calculate the profit made by subtracting the cost of the sweater from the selling price. In this case, the selling price is $15 (cost) + $5 (profit) = $20.
Step 2: Find the amount of profit as a fraction of the cost. To do this, divide the profit ($5) by the cost ($15). This gives you 5/15 or 1/3.
Step 3: Convert the fraction into a percentage. To do this, multiply the fraction by 100. In this case, (1/3) * 100 = 33.33.
Step 4: Round off the percentage to the desired level of precision. In this case, rounding it to two decimal places gives you 33.33%.
Therefore, the profit expressed as a percent of the merchant's cost is 33.33%.