Hey there!
Your question states:
<span>John's monthly paycheck consists of $4000 plus a 9% commission on all of his sales. During one month, John earned $11,650. What were his sales during that month?
</span>
We don't want to 9% to really trick us.
We just do 11,650 - 4,000 = 7,650.
Now, we can adjust everything.
That
9% of the commission on the sales was worth
. . . 7,650
Your correct and clarified answer would be
. . .
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Hope this helps.
~Jurgen