Lessons · Pharmacy · a percent discount
A percent discount
A discount is a percentage of the starting price taken off it, and what is paid is what is left.
Hone is a place to practise a career, one idea a day. This is one of its lessons, written out in full and free to read without an account.
Not yet checked by a licensed pharmacist. This lesson was written for Hone. Practice material, not professional advice. What that means.
What it is for
Discount cards, cash prices and store promotions all arrive as a percentage, and the patient at the counter wants the dollars. The arithmetic is two lines and the second one is a subtraction people skip.
How to think about it
Turn the percentage into a decimal and multiply the price by it: that is the money coming off. Subtract it. Or multiply by what is left of the hundred in one step. Round to the cent.
Worked example
$45.00 at 20% offThe starting price and the percentage.
Discount = $45.00 x 0.20 = $9.00The money taken off.
Paid = $45.00 - $9.00 = $36.00What changes hands.
Or $45.00 x 0.80 = $36.00Twenty off leaves eighty, in one step.
Your turn
An item is $70.00 with 10% off. Write the discount in dollars.
70.00 x 0.10 =
Solve one, graded on the server
The trap
Adding percentages together. Twenty percent off and then ten percent off is not thirty percent off, because the second one comes off a price that is already smaller.