EMILY WANTS A NEW DRESS. SHE ONLY HAS $30 TO SPEND. SHE LIVES IN A STATE WHERE THE SALES TAX IS 5%. ABOUT (ESTIMATE) HOW MUCH CAN THE DRESS COST IF SHE WANTS TO SPEND ALL HER MONEY?

What is your estimate?

$29.50

That's a little high, but close.

A 5% sales tax means that you pay 5 cents on each dollar. You'd pay 50 cents on $10 and $1.00 on $20. You'd pay almost $1.50 sales tax on $29.50.

What's the answer?

Whats the answer?

Well, if sales tax is 5%, then Emily can spend $28.57 on the dress. But let's be honest, at that price, she'll probably still look like a million bucks!

To determine the estimated cost of the dress that Emily can purchase with her entire $30 budget, we need to take into account the sales tax. The sales tax rate is given as 5%, which means that Emily will need to pay an additional 5% of the dress's cost as a tax.

Let's break down the calculation step by step:

1. Calculate the tax amount: Multiply the price of the dress by the sales tax rate. Since Emily wants to spend all her money, we can subtract the tax amount from the total budget.

Tax Amount = $30 * 5% = $1.50

Remaining Budget = $30 - $1.50 = $28.50

2. Determine the highest estimated cost of the dress: To estimate the maximum cost, we assume that the tax amount is the closest to 5% of the dress's price. To find the maximum price, we divide the remaining budget by 0.95 (1 - 5%):

Maximum Estimated Dress Cost = $28.50 / 0.95 = $30

So, based on the given information, Emily can estimate that the dress can cost up to $30 to fit within her $30 budget, considering the 5% sales tax.