match box teaser

[markie]

A man withdrew half the money that was in his building society account to buy a second car, then sold the car two weeks later, recieving only three quarters of the price he paid for it. when he paid the money back into the building society he found his balance was £600 less than it had been originally, how much did he pay for the car, ?


PS Don't ask for the answer because i dont know, and i'm not going to send a S-A-E to find out.

If you want to i'll keep the match box then you can post where you've got to send the S-A-E,

 

[ninebob]

Ok, I'm thinking aloud here and doing it as algebra:

Let x be the balance of his account as the beginning. When we get to the end we know that 0.5x is the price he paid for the car.

So, x - 0.5x + 0.375x = x - 600.

Which shortens to: x - 0.875x = x - 600.

Now I have a formula, I just need to remember how you solve the bl**dy things.....

 

[ninebob]

No, no, I was getting woefully led astray by all that, it's not that complicated at all!

It's easy - the difference in his bank balance is a quarter of the car's original price, therefore the car was £2400.

Do I win a prize for the most "around-the-houses" way of approaching it until the little light in my head came on?