A customer purchases 15 widgets that cost $13 the sales tax rate is 9 percent. what is the total cost?

Question

A customer purchases 15 widgets that cost $13 the sales tax rate is 9 percent. what is the total cost?

Answer 1

I assume you meant $13 each and not in total.  If this is incorrect please let me know.  We need to multiply 13 * 15 to get the total price before tax:

 

13 * 15 = $195

 

So before tax, it costs $195.  To add tax on you can do one of two things:

 

#1 -- Take $195 and multiply by 9 percent to determine the taxes, then add that to the original cost to come up with the total:

195 * .09 = $17.55 ----  17.55 + 195 = $212.55 total

 

#2 -- This is the easier way.  Multiply the total price before taxes by 1.09:

195 * 1.09  = $212.55 total

 

Either way you do it will come up with the same answer.