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Example 2

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A store is having a sale in which everything is 25% off. You want to buy a shirt that costs $40. What will be the sale price of the shirt?

Why is it important to be able to understand and write a math problem to solve this? There are many reasons this is important. For example, you may have only $25, and you want to know if you have enough money to buy the shirt.

In this unit, you will learn to ask yourself, "What is 25% of $40?" You will know the word "of" is a clue to multiply. You will also know "25% off" means you will subtract from the original price of the shirt.

Maybe you saw another shirt at a different store that you also like. That shirt costs $45 but is on sale for 40% off. You want to know which shirt costs less. To do this, you compare the prices of the two shirts.

Why is this important?

If you like both shirts equally well, you probably want to buy the one that is cheaper. So, you must be able to compare the prices.