This is why I told you that your problem statement is ambiguous. You have book A that costs 1$ You are asking about the "Cost" of book B (different from A) that costs 1$ plus "half of its (A's) price", i.e. 1+0.5=1.5 So, if you state problems in an ambiguous way don't be surprised you get multiple (all valid) answers.
"What is the cost of a book that costs $1 plus half of its price?" Where do you see ambiguity We have one object in here "a book" its, must reference that book there is nothing else it could grammatically refer to. I mean I know I was no English major, but hell, I don't see how there is any way to interpret that statement differently. With apologies to those who don't speak English as a first language.
If I was given this problem in a maths test I would put $2, but there is semantic wiggle-room enough to claim that it is impossible to answer, along the lines of what Emil has previously suggested. It would depend on whether the "cost" is the same as "price". One could argue that "price" is the amount one is willing to pay for something, and "cost" is the amount to create the thing (hence the term "cost-price" - i.e. something that has a selling "price" equal to the "cost" of manufacture). If the "price" was $100, say, then the actual "cost" in this scenario would be $51. As such the question is impossible to answer, other than to say that the cost is $1 plus half of its price. But, as said, in a maths test I would put $2 - for the reasons previously given and explained by others. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Very nice argument about the ambiguity of the problem statement. The free intermixing of "cost" and "price" in the problem statement makes it (the problem) ambiguous. Any of the multiple solutions is valid.
If you ask someone how much a book costs, the shopkeeper tells you the price. So YES, price and cost are clearly used to mean the same thing. This wasn't rocket science. The question wasn't ambiguous. Arthur
But you said that the book costs one dollar. You didn't mention anything about the total price which is why the answer would logically seem to be $1.50:shrug: What is there a hidden tax or something?
If the above were true , all companies would be bankrupt. Luckily for our respective economies, it isn't.
Since the cost is mentioned first, I assumed that it was from the publisher's or bookseller's point of view. it sounds like; y= $1 + x/2 not x= $1 + x/2
But none of that is mentioned. There is no mention of the cost of price before or after printing or market price or added taxes. All there is is this: What is the Cost of a book that costs 1$ plus half of its price?
If price=cost, then this is a not a simple math question, but a non-question. If two different words are used for the same notion within the same question, then this raises a difficult linguistic question.
If I took the matter seriously, then it would have had to ask, "Please define what you mean by cost and price." Cost: Price: Usually the price is higher than the cost. Or again is the point of view or reference system. When I buy something is cost but for the seller is the price.
If you want to play linguistic games then the answer is $1. "What is the Cost of a book that costs 1$ plus half of its price?" Specifically states that the cost is $1. Therefore the clause "plus half of its price" is meaningless. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
