Final answer:
To find the cost of the meal, subtract the service charge from the total bill. The service charge is 10% of the cost of the meal. Set up the equation and solve for the cost of the meal.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the cost of the meal, we need to subtract the service charge from the total bill. The service charge is 10% of the cost of the meal. Let's represent the cost of the meal as 'x'. The service charge can be calculated as 0.1 * x. Therefore, the total bill can be expressed as x + 0.1 * x = 1.1 * x.
Given that the total bill is £137.50, we can set up the equation 1.1 * x = £137.50. To find the value of x, we divide both sides of the equation by 1.1: x = £137.50 / 1.1. Using a calculator, we can find that x ≈ £125.
Therefore, the cost of the meal was approximately £125.