You are in a store and want to ensure you have enough cash for an unplanned purchase you need to be able to calculate the sales tax for your purchase without a calculator identify a situation that would fit into this scenario and explain how you would organize this calculation to solve it without a calculator assume a 5% sales tax rate for full credit you will need the cost of the item and explanation of how you would calculate the sales tax and the total cost

Question

You are in a store and want to ensure you have enough cash for an unplanned purchase you need to be able to calculate the sales tax for your purchase without a calculator identify a situation that would fit into this scenario and explain how you would organize this calculation to solve it without a calculator assume a 5% sales tax rate for full credit you will need the cost of the item and explanation of how you would calculate the sales tax and the total cost

Answer 1

Scenario:

You are in a clothing store and find a shirt that you really like. The shirt is labeled as $20.00. However, you need to calculate the sales tax and determine the total cost without using a calculator.

To solve this calculation, follow these steps:

Step 1: Determine the sales tax rate.
In this scenario, the sales tax rate is 5%, as stated in the question.

Step 2: Convert the percentage to a decimal.
To convert 5% to a decimal, divide it by 100: 5/100 = 0.05.

Step 3: Calculate the sales tax amount.
Take the cost of the item ($20.00) and multiply it by the sales tax rate (0.05).
$20.00 * 0.05 = $1.00

Step 4: Calculate the total cost.
Add the sales tax amount to the original cost of the item.
Total cost = $20.00 + $1.00 = $21.00

Therefore, without using a calculator, the sales tax for the item priced at $20.00 would be $1.00, and the total cost including sales tax would be $21.00.

Answer 2

Scenario: You are in a store and want to buy a pair of shoes. The cost of the shoes is $80, and the sales tax rate is 5%.

To calculate the sales tax and the total cost without a calculator, you can follow these steps:

Step 1: Convert the sales tax rate to a decimal.
To convert the sales tax rate of 5% to a decimal, divide it by 100:
Sales tax rate = 5 / 100 = 0.05

Step 2: Calculate the sales tax amount.
Multiply the cost of the item by the sales tax rate:
Sales tax amount = $80 * 0.05 = $4

Step 3: Calculate the total cost.
Add the sales tax amount to the cost of the item:
Total cost = $80 + $4 = $84

Therefore, the sales tax for the purchase of the shoes is $4, and the total cost including the tax is $84.