Question

caleb bought groceries and paid $1.00 in sales tax. the sales tax rate is 4.5%. what was the price of calebs groceries, before tax?

Explanation:

Step1: Recall the sales tax formula

The formula for sales tax is \( \text{Tax} = \text{Price before tax} \times \text{Tax rate} \). Let \( x \) be the price before tax. The tax rate is \( 3.5\% = 0.035 \) and the tax is \( \$1.61 \). So we have the equation \( 0.035x = 1.61 \).

Step2: Solve for x

To find \( x \), we divide both sides of the equation by \( 0.035 \): \( x=\frac{1.61}{0.035} \). Calculating this, \( \frac{1.61}{0.035} = 46 \).

Answer:

46