Multiple choice general knowledge math & puzzles

A man decides to buy a nice horse. He pays $60 for it, and he is very content with the strong animal. After a year, the value of the horse has increased to $70 and he decides to sell the horse. But already a few days later he regrets his decision to sell the beautiful horse, and he buys it again. Unfortunately he has to pay $80 to get it back, so he loses $10. After another year of owning the horse, he finally decides to sell the horse for $90. What is the overall profit the man makes?

  1. 10

  2. 20

  3. 30

  4. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Step-by-step profit calculation: 1) Bought at $60, sold at $70 = +$10 profit. 2) Bought back at $80 (regret), sold at $90 = +$10 profit. Total = $10 + $10 = $20. The $80 purchase doesn't create a loss - it's the new cost basis. The -$10 mentioned in the problem is misleading intermediate accounting, not actual profit.

AI explanation

To answer this question, let's go through each step of the man's transactions and calculate his overall profit:

Step 1: The man buys the horse for $60. Step 2: The value of the horse increases to $70, and the man sells it. He makes a profit of $70 - $60 = $10. Step 3: The man buys the horse back for $80, which means he loses $80 - $70 = $10. Step 4: The man decides to sell the horse for $90. Since he originally bought it for $60, his profit from this transaction is $90 - $60 = $30.

Overall, the man's profit is $10 + (-$10) + $30 = $30.

Therefore, the correct answer is C) 30.

Keep practicing — related questions