Final answer:
To find the total cost of an item x with a 35% discount, multiply the original price by 0.65. The expression for the discounted price is x × 0.65.
Step-by-step explanation:
To write an expression for the total cost of an item x with a 35% discount, you first need to determine how much the discount is worth in terms of the item's original price. You convert the percentage of the discount to a decimal by dividing it by 100, which in this case is 0.35. Then, multiply the item's original price x by this decimal to find the discount amount: x × 0.35.
Next, subtract the discount amount from the original price to find the discounted price. The expression for the total cost after applying the discount is therefore: x - (x × 0.35). This simplifies to x × (1 - 0.35), which is the same as x × 0.65, since a 35% discount means you pay 65% of the original price.