Final answer:
The sales tax rate is found by dividing the amount of sales tax by the cost before tax and multiplying by 100. In this case, the sales tax rate for an item costing $350 with a $17.50 sales tax is 5%.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the sales tax rate, we need to divide the amount of the sales tax by the cost of the item before tax, and then multiply the result by 100 to get a percentage. Given that the sales tax is $17.50 for an item that costs $350 before tax, we can calculate the rate by:
Sales Tax Rate = (Sales Tax / Cost Before Tax) × 100
Sales Tax Rate = ($17.50 / $350) × 100
Sales Tax Rate = 0.05 × 100
Sales Tax Rate = 5%
The sales tax rate for the item is 5%. This is found by converting the percent to a decimal and then multiplying by the total cost, as observed in similar examples of calculating sales tax in mathematics problems.