A maths question!

[DucksInARowingBoat]

If something costs £572 and inflation is 4.2% what will it cost next year?

I have my answer but I want to see what you come up with as it keeps telling me Im wrong.

Just to add, the instructions say to work out the result you should multiply the current price by the percentage increase. However I work that out to be 320% increase.

596.02

£596

Perfect! I got £596 too.
I didnt want to "feedback" if it was me being stupid which is quite posdible.

Well, treating it as a simple maths question you need to find 4.2% of 572 and then add it on.

or do it the quick way and do
1.042 x 572 =596.024

however in reality the inflation rate is an average of lots of price changes and you can’t really use it this way.

You just find 4.2% of 572 and add it on…

the instructions are telling you to multiply the current price by the percentage increase as a decimal which means you can do it in one calculation.

I know it's much more complicated but this is a really basic course to explain the economy, inflation, fiscal easing etc for dummies like me who struggle to understand it.

How are you getting 596 but also a 320% increase? Are they saying the answer isn’t 596? Or are they giving a different method that would result in a different answer?

1.042 x 572, which I hope is the same as the above answers.
What did you get @DucksInARowingBoat ?

Why is it 1.042 and not 4.2?
The instructions literally say to multiply the current cost by the percentage ie 4.2% x 572.

I just calculated 4.2% of 572 and added it which gave me the correct answer according to everyone.

Ignore - just saw your update! (Can’t edit my post)

A) 0.042 is 4.2%
B) 1x is the whole of the original amount so you don’t need to add A to B - it is all just done as one sum.
0.042 x 572 + 572 = 1.042 x 572

Your OP asked for the price next year.
If you had asked for rise in cost in pound sterling then you only need to do 0.042 x 572.

Because you are multiplying it by 1 (the original 572) and then 4.2% of 1 (.042), which added together is 1.042.

I'm getting £596 if I work out 4.2% of £572 and add it to £572. Which is correct but the box is saying it isn't.

However the instructions literally say to multiply the current cost by the percentage ie 4.2% x 572. That makes £2402.4 which is 320% increase. I know inflation is high but... 🤣

Can you type out the exact wording of the question or screenshot it and post it here?

"You can estimate the price inctease of an item by multiplying it's current price by the expected inflation rate"

The question is "the item costs £572.00. If it's cost increases at the rate of inflation of 4.2%, what will it cost next year?".

We all agree that it is £596 so Im happy to say the course is wrong. It doesnt say what they think the answer is.

Because 4.2% is 0.042 not 0.42 (that’s 42%). So, you multiply by 1.042. You are getting the wrong answer because you are multiplying by the wrong number when you use 1.42

X by 1.042

From what you’ve written, the course is not wrong. You aren’t going what they tell you - you are multiplying by 42% (0.42) not 4.2% (0.042).

No - that’s 4.2 x £572, not 4.2%.

I got an A* in maths GCSE a "few years" ago but I dont understand the 1.042 thing but that's OK. Working out the percentage and adding it came up with the right answer even if it is the long way.

Thanks everyone!

Your answer is wrong because they want to know the price rise not the actual price next year.
4.2% is 4/100 so 0.042
You, therefore, need to do 0.042 x 572

Hope that works!

Oh ok! Shows what I know! 😆

If you multiply it by 4.2 that’s multiplying it by 420%. 🙈

I tried £24 too in case that is what they meant but that is right either.