Final answer:
Jade buys a blouse and a skirt for (3/4) of the original price. To find the original price of the skirt, we can set up an equation and solve.
Step-by-step explanation:
To solve this problem, we can set up an equation using the given information. Let's let x represent the original price of the skirt. We know that Jade buys the blouse and the skirt for (3/4) of the original price, which means she pays (3/4)x for both items combined. We also know that she pays a total of $31.50 for the two items. Setting up the equation, we have (3/4)x + 18 = 31.50. To solve for x, we can subtract 18 from both sides to get (3/4)x = 13.50. Then, we can multiply both sides by 4/3 to isolate x and find that x = $18. Simplifying the equation, we find that the original price of the skirt is $18.