Since we know that 1/4 is equal to 25%, or 0.25 in decimal form, we are able to work with 0.75 in the expression.
We are told to use j as the original price of the jeans, so we can set up the expression:
![j-0.25j](https://img.qammunity.org/2019/formulas/mathematics/middle-school/lldf4e0nj9csxw3phtmp6v6siuqze6luz8.png)
to represent the cost of the jeans with the discount.
Then to simplify, we simply take out j as a common factor, and solve what's in the parentheses:
![j(1-0.25)](https://img.qammunity.org/2019/formulas/mathematics/middle-school/hg98oc9236kh37po085amoq9vowlm7q7ya.png)
or
![0.75j](https://img.qammunity.org/2019/formulas/mathematics/middle-school/14cy1br12555z5uovo5sopjznt4dqxzaku.png)
Using this equation, we can solve for the b part of the question. If the pair of jeans originally costs $60, plug in 60 to where j is in the expression:
![0.75j](https://img.qammunity.org/2019/formulas/mathematics/middle-school/14cy1br12555z5uovo5sopjznt4dqxzaku.png)
![0.75(60)=45](https://img.qammunity.org/2019/formulas/mathematics/middle-school/cyyepcpbpbrrkk9owuzz7a3a1xvrvben90.png)
Therefore, the cost of the jeans after the discount is C) $45.