Question

Lou Harris is guaranteed a minimum $275 weekly salary plus 5.25% of his total sales. What were his total sales for a week in which his gross pay was $700?

Answer 1

well, his gross, namely, his total he got before any taxes and other deductions, was 700

now, he's guaranteed a salary of 275, so he gets that as a fixed amount per week
then it gets padded up with commission from the sales, namely 5.25% of total sales

so hmm 5.25% of anything is just (5.25/100) * anything

so... let's say, the total sales were "x", 5.25% of "x" is just (5.25/100) * x
or 0.0525x

whatever "x" was, we know that, 5.25% of that, and his 275 salary, add up to 700

thus 700 = 275 + 0.0525x <---- solve for "x"

Answer 2

$8095.24

Explanation:

Let x represent total weekly sales.

We have been given that Lou Harris gets a commission of 5.25% of his total sales.

So the amount earned in x sales would be
`(5.25)/(100)\cdot x=0.0525x`.

Harris also gets guaranteed weekly salary $275.

Harris total salary would be
`0.0525x+275`.

We have been given that Harris's gross pay was $700. We can equate this amount as:

`0.0525x+275=700`

`0.0525x+275-275=700-275`

`0.0525x=425`

`(0.0525x)/(0.0525)=(425)/(0.0525)`

`x=8095.238095`

`x\approx 8095.24`

Therefore, Harris's total sales in a week was $8095.24.