How to calculate a discount?

To know how to calculate the discount of a certain good that we want to buy is one of the most useful and common mathematical uses of everyday. Although it is a very easy kind of calculation, even if you perform it just in your mind, there is still a bit of a confusion concerning the right way it must be done.

Here it is a simple example so as to easily understand the concept: “I am thinking about buying a bicycle that costs `240€`. It has a discount of `20%` How much will it cost?":

• `20% = 0.20`
• The value of the discount is: `240 xx 0.20 = 48€`
• The final price will be: `240 - 48 = 192€`

Take notice that we could immediately set the price without first calculating the discount:

• `100% - 20% = 80% = 0.80`
• The final price to pay is: `240 xx 0.80 = 192€`

If we want to calculate a price rise, instead of the discount, we have the same performance. The only difference is that we solve a sum instead of subtracting.

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