EXERCISE 44 The price of a television set has been reduced by \( 10 \% \) to R799. What was the pre- discount price for this television set? 2. Jacob is a plumber. Due to increased material costs, he puts all his prices up by \( 7 \% \). He now charges R320 per hour for his services. What did he charge before he put his prices up? The Natha family are considering flying to Mauritius for a holiday. The total cost of the holiday per person is R12 999 (VAT incl.). What was the price before vat? into her retirement village. She now weighs 81 kg. What was her weight before she moved into her retirement village? The Oliviers are considering buying a second-hand car that has been discounted by 139 . The car is currently selling for R89 000. What was its pre-discount price?

To find the pre-discount price of the television, we start with the final price of R799. Since the price was reduced by 10%, this means the price represents 90% of the original price. To find the original price (P), we can set up the equation: \( 0.9P = 799 \). Solving for P gives us \( P = R799 / 0.9 \) which equals approximately R مرتضاة. Jacob’s previous charge before raising his plumbing fees can be calculated using a similar method. Since R320 now reflects a 7% increase, it represents 107% of Jacob's original price (X). We can express this with the equation: \( 1.07X = 320 \). Dividing R320 by 1.07 reveals that Jacob previously charged about R298.13 per hour. For the Natha family's holiday cost including VAT, if the total price per person is R12,999, we need to know what percentage of that amount includes VAT. In South Africa, VAT is 15%. Therefore, the price before VAT can be calculated using the formula \( \text{Price before VAT} = \frac{\text{Total Price}}{1 + \text{VAT Rate}} \). Plugging in the numbers gives R12,999 / 1.15, which results in approximately R11,299. To find the original price of the discounted second-hand car, we know that the current price is R89,000 after a discount of R139. Adding the markdown to the current price gives us the pre-discount price: R89,000 + R139 = R89,139. In summary, these calculations help us understand the impact of discounts, pricing strategies, and how additional factors like VAT can influence final costs, making it essential to grasp these mathematical concepts in everyday scenarios.