Question

A store is having a sale in which all items are reduced by 20%. Including tax, Jennifer paid $21 for a pair of shorts. If the sales tax is 5%, what was the original price of the shorts?

Answer 1

Answer: the original price of the shorts was $25

Step-by-step explanation:

Let x represent the original price of the shorts.

The store is having a sale in which all items are reduced by 20%. This means that the amount of discount on the shorts is

20/100 × x = 0.2x

The price of the shorts would be

x - 0.2x = 0.8x

If the sales tax is 5%, then the amount of sales tax charged is

5/100 × 0.8x = 0.04x

The final cost of the shorts would be

0.8x + 0.04x = 0.84x

Including tax, Jennifer paid $21 for a pair of shorts. This means that

0.84x = 21

x = 21/0.84

x = 25