College

Les bought glitter pens, paper, and an easel. If he paid $2.74 in sales tax for the easel, did the easel or the glitter pens cost more?

Answer :

We start by determining the pre-tax price of the easel. Given that Les paid \[tex]$2.74 in sales tax and assuming a typical sales tax rate of 10% (which is 0.10 in decimal form), we use the formula for sales tax:

$[/tex][tex]$
\text{Sales Tax} = \text{Tax Rate} \times \text{Item Price}
$[/tex][tex]$

Rearranging the formula to solve for the item price, we have:

$[/tex][tex]$
\text{Item Price} = \frac{\text{Sales Tax}}{\text{Tax Rate}}
$[/tex][tex]$

Substituting the given values:

$[/tex][tex]$
\text{Item Price} = \frac{2.74}{0.10} = 27.40
$[/tex][tex]$

This calculation shows that the pre-tax price of the easel is \$[/tex]27.40.

Because glitter pens generally cost only a few dollars at most, their cost is much lower compared to \$27.40. Therefore, we conclude that the easel cost more than the glitter pens.