Final answer:
B. $3.81
The sales tax Kevin will pay on a $52.50 messenger bag at a 7.25% rate is approximately $3.81, after converting the percentage to a decimal and multiplying it by the item cost.
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate the sales tax Kevin will pay on a $52.50 messenger bag with a sales tax rate of 7.25 percent, we need to perform a couple of steps. First, we convert the percentage to a decimal by dividing by 100, which gives us 0.0725. Then we multiply this decimal by the cost of the messenger bag.
Here's the calculation: $52.50 × 0.0725 = $3.80625. Since we need to round the sales tax to the nearest cent, the sales tax Kevin will pay is approximately $3.81.
Therefore, the correct answer is B. $3.81.