Question

Mr. jones bought a new shirt. The total cost was $53.95, including the 8% he paid in tax. What was the subtotal? (original price)

Answer 1

The final price of an item is calculated by adding the original price and the taxes.

Let "x" represent the original price of the item.

To calculate how much is the tax, you have to calculate the 8% of the original price, to do so you have to multiply the original price by 0.08, then we can symbolize the tax as "0.08x"

The final price of the shirt is $53.95, as mentioned before this price was obtained by adding the original price "x" and the tax "0.08x" so that:

`x+0.08x=53.95`

From this expression, we can calculate the value of x, the first step is to add both like terms together. Remember that the coefficient of "x", although not written, is 1, so what you have to do is add both coefficients 1 and 0.08:

`\begin{gathered} 1x+0.08x=53.95 \\ (1+0.08)x=53.95 \\ 1.08x=53.95 \end{gathered}`

Then divide both sides of the equation by 1.08 to determine the value of x:

`\begin{gathered} (1.08x)/(1.08)=(53.95)/(1.08) \\ x=49.95 \end{gathered}`

The shirt's original price is $49.95