Question

A waiter receives a tip of $35.40. This tip represents 20% of the cost of the dinner. What was the total cost of the tip before the tip was added?

Answer 1

The total cost of the dinner before the tip was added is found by dividing the tip amount, $35.40, by the tip percentage, which is 20%. This calculation results in a total cost of $177.00 before the tip.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question involves calculating the total cost of a dinner before a tip was added based on the tip amount that represents a certain percentage of the cost. First, we need to establish the relationship between the tip amount and the total cost before the tip. The tip is 20% of the total cost before the tip is added.

Let's denote the total cost before the tip as x. The waiter received a tip of $35.40, which is 20% of x. Therefore, we can write the following equation: 0.20 * x = $35.40. To find x, we divide $35.40 by 0.20, which gives us x = $177.00. Hence, the total cost of the dinner before the tip was added was $177.00.