Search This Blog

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Eleven Plus Percentages

Your child has a bike which is now rather small. You bought it at great expense some time ago. The bike has stayed the same size – it is your child who has grown. You want some money for the bike – and don’t want to give it away. You do not want much money for the bike – after all it has been used.

A friend offers you £35.50. You work out that this would give you a return of 17% if you did not trade the bike in.

Your child’s older sister, who is at grammar school and it at all times a bit of a `know all’, maintains that you need to make a profit of 26% on a private sale when you take into account what the shop is offering in incentives.

You mumble rather inconclusively as you just want to get rid of the bike. At the moment the bike is just one more bit of clutter. Your brain then lights up. Your eleven plus child should solve the problem and then receive the bike as a reward for going above and beyond the so called eleven plus syllabus.

You and your child have studied percentages.

117% of the bike is the cost price.

126% must be £35.10 multiplied by 117 and divided by 126.

Your child’s answer is £37.80.

You settle on this revised price. You try to work out if the extra £2.70 is worth upsetting your friend. You want to acknowledge your daughter’s acumen but you do not want to loose the friendship.

The Eleven Plus Dilemma

a) Do you stick with the original quoted price?

b) Do you simply give the bike away?

c) Do you take the extra money and spend the difference on a very small glass of wine?

No comments: