Identify the "Base" in the following application: The sales tax rate is 8&. If you pay a tax of $2.50 on a purchased item, What is its selling price?
Should this question be changed to a statement to make it easier to identify the base? For example: If I write the statement out as follows:
$2.50 is 8% of_____. It looks to me like the $2.50 is the Amount, and the rate is 8% and the base is unknown. Please tell me if this is correct.
A Word problem teaches you how to
think and tests your ability to
understand what you are reading.
Your way of stating the problem
is easier to understand. But there
is only 2 words in it. So it may
or may not qualify as a true Word
problem.
In the given application, the base refers to the selling price of the item. The sales tax rate of 8% is applied to the base (selling price) to calculate the tax amount.
To find the selling price, we can use the information given: you paid a tax of $2.50 on the item.
To solve for the selling price, we need to set up an equation using the formula for calculating the tax amount:
Tax Amount = Rate * Base
In this case, the tax amount is given as $2.50, and the rate is 8%. We need to find the base (selling price).
So we can write the equation as:
2.50 = 0.08 * Base
Now, to solve for the Base, we divide both sides of the equation by 0.08:
Base = 2.50 / 0.08
Base = $31.25
So, the selling price of the item is $31.25.
Regarding your suggestion to rephrase the question as a statement by saying "$2.50 is 8% of _____," it does help to identify the base as the missing value in this statement. This can make it easier to understand the problem and set up the equation.