Question

A student spends $48 on school supplies at a store where the sales tax is 7%. Write an expression to solve this problem. What is the cost of the total supplies?

a) Expression: 48 - 0.07
b) Expression: 48 + 0.07
c) Expression: 48 × 0.07
d) Expression: 48 / 0.07

Answer 1

The correct expression to calculate the total cost including sales tax is 48 + (0.07 × 48), which results in a total of $51.36.

Step-by-step explanation:

When calculating the total cost of school supplies with sales tax, the correct expression to use is the cost of the supplies plus the sales tax. To find the amount of sales tax, convert the percent to a decimal and then multiply by the total cost of the supplies. The sales tax rate provided is 7%, which as a decimal is 0.07.

Therefore, the correct expression to represent this calculation is:

Cost of supplies + (Sales tax rate × Cost of supplies) = 48 + (0.07 × 48)

This simplifies to:

48 + (0.07 × 48) = 48 + 3.36

So the total cost of the supplies, including sales tax, is:

48 + 3.36 = $51.36