Question

A laptop has a listed price of $797.89 before tax. If the sales tax rate is 6.5%, the total cost would be:

a) $847.54
b) $848.91
c) $846.12
d) $805.23

Answer 1

To find the total cost of the laptop, multiply the price by the sales tax rate as a decimal, round to the nearest cent, and add it to the original price. The correct total cost is $849.75, not matching any of the provided choices.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the total cost of a laptop that is priced at $797.89 with an additional sales tax rate of 6.5%, first, you need to convert the percentage to a decimal. The conversion is done by dividing the percentage by 100. Thus, 6.5% becomes 0.065. Afterward, you multiply the decimal tax rate by the item's cost to find the amount of sales tax. Applying this to the given price:

Sales tax = 0.065 × $797.89 = $51.86385

You then round the sales tax to the nearest cent, which would be $51.86. Lastly, add the original price of the laptop to the sales tax to find the total cost:

Total cost = $797.89 + $51.86 = $849.75

Looking at the options given, none of them matches the correct calculation. Therefore, it seems there may be a typo or error in the provided choices. Based on the calculation, none of options a), b), c), or d) are correct.