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  Number & Math Play

Profit or Loss?		  
Q Jill brought home a poster from her trip. She had paid $25 for it. Liu saw the poster and gave Jill $35 for it. A few days later, Jill bought the poster back for $45. Then she sold it again, this time to her cousin Allie for $55.

Did Jill make money on her transactions, or lose money?


  
A Add up all the money that Jill spent — $25 and $45 for a total of $70. Then add up all the money Jill got for the poster — $35 and $55 for a total of $90. Jill came out ahead by $20.

Source: Inspired by a puzzle in Put on Your Thinking Cap, Helen Jill Fletcher. New York: Abelard-Schuman, 1968.