Calculate Total Cost: Finding Original Price from 35% Deposit of $3500

Question

Kevin bought a computer and paid 3500 as a deposit. That sum is 35% of the total cost of the computer. Find the price of the computer.

00:00 Establish the price of the computer

00:05 Construct the appropriate equation according to the given data

00:15 Use the formula to convert percentages to fractions

00:20 Apply this formula to our exercise

00:35 Isolate the computer price

01:10 Break down 3500 into factors of 35 and 100

01:17 Reduce wherever possible

01:30 This is the solution

To solve this problem, we will use the percentage relationship:

Step 1: Convert the given percentage to a decimal:
35% as a decimal is $0.35$ because $35\% = \frac{35}{100}$ .
Step 2: Use the relationship between the deposit and the total cost:
The deposit is 35% of the total cost, so $0.35 \times \text{Total Cost} = 3500$ .
Step 3: Find the total cost by rearranging the formula and solving:
Hence, $\text{Total Cost} = \frac{3500}{0.35}$ .
Step 4: Calculate:
$\text{Total Cost} = \frac{3500}{0.35} = 10000$ .

Therefore, the price of the computer is $\text{\10,000} \)$ .

10000