In winter, the price of apples suddenly went up by $\$0.75$ per pound. Sam bought $3$ pounds of apples at the new price for a total of $\$5.88$ . What was the original price per pound of apples before the increase?

Full solution

Q. In winter, the price of apples suddenly went up by

\$0.75

per pound. Sam bought

3

pounds of apples at the new price for a total of

\$5.88

. What was the original price per pound of apples before the increase?

Calculate Total Increase: First, we need to find the total cost of the apples before the price increase. Since the price went up by $\$0.75$ per pound and Sam bought $3$ pounds, the total increase in price is $3$ pounds times $\$0.75$ /pound. Calculation: $3$ pounds * $\$0.75$ /pound = $\$2.25$ total increase.
Find Original Total Cost: Next, we subtract the total increase from the total amount Sam paid to find out how much he would have paid at the original price. $\newline$ Calculation: $\$5.88$ total paid - $\$2.25$ total increase = $\$3.63$ original total cost for $3$ pounds.
Calculate Original Price Per Pound: Now, we divide the original total cost by the number of pounds to find the original price per pound. $\newline$ Calculation: $\$3.63$ original total cost / $3$ pounds = $\$1.21$ per pound original price.