Final answer:
Guadalupe should multiply the original price by 0.75 to find the price she will pay before tax for a 25% discounted item.
Step-by-step explanation:
Guadalupe is shopping for pants with a 25% discount. To calculate the price she will pay, she should convert the discount percentage to a decimal to find out the percentage she will actually pay. Since 100% is the full price and there is a 25% discount, she will pay the remaining 75% of the price. Therefore, the decimal value for the discount is 0.75.
To find the discounted price before tax in one step, Guadalupe should multiply the original price of the pants by 0.75. For example, if the pants are $40, then she would do the calculation $40 × 0.75 to get the price before tax, which would be $30.