Question

Dave buys a base ball for $15 plus an 8% tax. Mel buys a football for $20 plus an 8% tax. What is the difference,in dollars of the amount save and Mel pay

Answer 1

To find the total amount Dave and Mel paid, apply the taxes to their initial purchases.

Dave paid $15 for a baseball. There was an 8% tax added to this total afterwards. To add the tax to the amount Dave paid, convert the percentage into a decimal:

$8 \div 100 = 0.08$

Multiply the cost of the baseball by this decimal to find the tax:

$15 \times 0.08 = 1.20$

Add the tax onto the cost:

$15 + 1.20 = 16.20$

Dave paid $16.20 in total for the baseball.

Mel paid $20 for a football. There is an 8% tax added to this total afterwards. We already have the decimal for an 8% tax, so we can multiply the football's cost by the decimal:

$20 \times 0.08 = 1.60$

Add the tax onto the cost:

$20 + 1.60 = 21.60$

Mel paid $21.60 for the football.

Subtract the bigger cost by the smaller cost:

$21.60 - 16.20 = 5.40$

There is a $5.40 difference between Dave's and Mel's purchases.