Question

James bought 4 candles for his mom’s birthday. The total was $21 including a $1 sales tax. What is the price for each candle?

Answer 1

Each candle costs $5

Explanation:

Step 1: Make an expression to express this scenario

James bought 4 candles, let us represent the candles with the variable x.

The sales tax was $1 and the total was $21.

So...
`4x + 1 = 21`

We break this into that there are 4x means that there are 4 candles that cost an "x" amount. We add the one to the left side to make sure that it is included in the shopping cost. Finally, on the right side we have the total price.

Step 2: Find the "x" value which will give us the price for each candle

Subtract 1 from both sides

`4x + 1 - 1 = 21 - 1`

`4x = 20`

Divide both sides by 4

`4x / 4 = 20 / 4`

`x = 5`

Answer: Each candle costs $5