Question

Lucia bought some art supplies from an online retailer. The retailer charges a $4.95 shipping fee or 5.75% of the total purchase, whichever is greater. If Lucia's total purchase is $78.99, how much will she pay for shipping? Round your answer to two decimal places.

Answer 1

To solve the exercise you can use a rule of three, like this

`\begin{gathered} \text{ \$78.99}\rightarrow100\text{\%} \\ \text{ \$}x\rightarrow5.75\text{\%} \\ x=\frac{5.75\text{\%}\cdot\text{ \$78.99}}{100\text{\%}} \\ x=\text{\$}(5.75\cdot78.99)/(100) \\ x=\text{\$}(454.19)/(100) \\ x=\text{\$}4.54 \end{gathered}`

The shipping fee would be $4.54 which corresponds to 5.75% of the total purchase. But since $4.54 is less than $4.95 then Lucia will pay for shipping $4.95.