A merchant discounted the sale price of a coat and the sale

jjjinapinch wrote:A merchant discounted the sale price of a coat and the sale price of a sweater. Which of the two articles of clothing was discounted by the greater dollar amount?

(1) The percent discount on the coat was 2 percentage points greater than the percent discount on the sweater.
(2) Before the discounts, the sale price of the coat was $10 less than the sale price of the sweater.

Official Guide question
Answer: E

We have to determine which of the two articles is discounted more than the other.

Statement 1:

We do not have any information about the prices of the articles. Insufficient.

Statement 2:

We do not have any information about the discount rates of the articles. Insufficient.

Statement 1 & 2:

Say the price of the sweater = $100, thus the price of coat = 100 – 10 = $90.

Let's take two cases.

1. Case 1: Say discount rate on sweater = 2%, thus, the discount rate on coat = 2 + 2 = 4%.

Thus,
the discount on sweater = 2% of 100 = $2;
the discount on coat = 4% of 90 = $3.60 > $2.

The answer is coat.

1. Case 2: Say discount rate on sweater = 23%, thus, the discount rate on coat = 23 + 2 = 25%.

Thus,
the discount on sweater = 23% of 100 = $23;
the discount on coat = 25% of 90 = $22.50 < 23.

The answer is sweater. No unique answer. Insufficient.

The correct answer: E

Hope this helps!

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