Question

Marta’s customer bought 4 large oranges at $0.75 each and 8 small oranges at $0.50 each plus tax was a total of $7.49. She used t to represent the amount of tax. Explain her errors in the diagram.

Answer 1

Given:
4 large oranges @ 0.75 each
8 small oranges @ 0.50 each
total amount paid: 7.49 including sales tax.

4(0.75) = 3.00
8(0.50) = 4.00

3 + 4 = 7 
7 + t = 7.49
t  = 7.49 - 7
t  = 0.49 total amount of tax paid.

0.49/7 = 0.07 sales tax rate

the sales tax rate is 7%

4(0.75) + 8(0.5) = 7
7 x 0.07 = 0.49
7 + 0.49 = 7.49

Answer 2

The total, 7.49, should be the top bar, and the variable, t, should be one of the partial bars. The prices for a certain number of oranges is also incorrect. $0.75 should be multiplied by 4 and $0.50 multiplied by 8.