The original price of a computer was $899.00. Eleanor had a 15% off coupon which she was able to use to make the purchase. If sales tax of 6.5% was added afte

Question

The original price of a computer was $899.00.  Eleanor had a 15% off coupon which she was able to use to make the purchase.  If sales tax of 6.5% was added after the discount was taken, how much did Eleanor pay altogether for the computer?  Round your answer to the nearest cent if necessary and include units.

Answer 1

Eleanor paid 15% less than the original price for the computer therefore she paid 85% of $899.00 for the computer (100% - 15% = 85%).  Since the 6.5% tax is applied to the discounted price she paid, we determine the discounted price as follows:

85% of $899.00 equals 85/100 x $899.00 = 0.85 x $899.00 = $764.15

Now we determine how much the tax is by multiplying $764.15 by 6.5%:

6.5% of $764.15 equals 6.5/100 x $764.15 = 0.065 x $764.15 = $49.67

Now we add the discounted price and the tax to get the total cost to Eleanor:

$763.15 + $49.67 = $813.82

 

Answer 2

Discount price: $899*(1 - 0.15) = $764.15

 

Discount price + sales tax:  $764.15*(1 + 0.065) = $813.82

Answer 3

To find a percent discount, you need to convert 15% to a decimal and multiply it by the original price of the item:

(.15)(899)=134.89.

 

Now, be careful when doing percent discounts, because that number, 134.89 is NOT the new price of the item, but is the amount saved with the 15% discount. So to find the discounted price of the computer, you need to subtract this number from the original price:

899-134.89=764.11

 

The next step is to find the sales tax charged on the discounted price of the computer. Instead of a percent discount, this is a percent added, but the first step is the same as before - converting the percent to a decimal and multiplying it by the price:

(.065)(764.11)=49.67

 

Again, this is not the final price - you need to add this amount (the tax) to the discounted price we found earlier to find the total:

764.11+49.67=813.78

 

Eleanor paid $813.78 for the computer.

 

Hope that helped!