Final answer:
To calculate the total cost including sales tax, convert the sales tax rate from a percentage to a decimal and multiply it by the item's price. Add this result to the original price to find the total cost. For an $85 jacket with a 7.5% tax, the total is $91.38.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine the total cost of an item with sales tax, we first need to find the amount of the sales tax applied to the original price. The sales tax can be calculated using the following formula: Amount of sales tax = price × rate of sales tax. The rate of sales tax is converted from a percentage to a decimal before multiplying.
For example, if Emily bought a jacket for $85 with a 7.5% sales tax, we first convert 7.5% to a decimal (0.075) and then multiply it by $85:
$85 × 0.075 = $6.375
The sales tax is $6.38 when rounded to the nearest cent. Then, add this amount to the original price of the jacket to find the total cost:
$85 + $6.38 = $91.38
Therefore, the total cost of the jacket, including sales tax, is $91.38.