Final answer:
Austin spent 85 cents on an eraser and a pencil; this is equivalent to 85/100 of a dollar, or 0.85 when expressed as a decimal.
Step-by-step explanation:
Austin bought an eraser for 65 cents and a pencil for 20 cents. To find out what fraction of a dollar he spent, we first need to add the cost of the eraser and the pencil together: 65 cents + 20 cents = 85 cents. Since there are 100 cents in a dollar, Austin spent 85 out of 100 cents, which can be written as the fraction 85/100.
When converting this fraction to a decimal, we simply divide the numerator by the denominator. Therefore:
In words, X = 85 cents / 100 cents
X~ = 0.85
So, Austin spent 0.85 of a dollar on the eraser and the pencil.