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Sub 505 (Easy)|   Word Problems|               
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dinesh8
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OptimusPrepJanielle
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Of the total amount that Jill spent on a shopping trip, excluding taxes, she spent 50 percent on clothing, 20 percent on food, and 30 percent on other items. If Jill paid a 4 percent tax on the clothing, no tax on the food, and an 8 percent tax on all other items, then the total tax that she paid was what percent of the total amount that she spent,
excluding taxes?

T = total, t=tax t/T=?

It's easiest to pick a number for T, like 1000.

Then clothing = 500, other = 300 (food is not taxed)
t for clothing (20) + t for other (24) = 44
t/T=44/1000

A. 2.8%
B. 3.6%
C. 4.4%
D. 5.2%
E. 6.0%
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jgcanada
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Pick simple numbers to work with, 100.

50 @ 4% = 2
20 @ 0% = 0
30 @ 8% = 2.4

Total tax = 4.4

Total bill = 100

4.4/100 = 4.4%
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dinesh8
Of the total amount that Jill spent on a shopping trip, excluding taxes, she spent 50 percent on clothing, 20 percent on food, and 30 percent on other items. If Jill paid a 4 percent tax on the clothing, no tax on the food, and an 8 percent tax on all other items, then the total tax that she paid was what percent of the total amount that she spent, excluding taxes?

A. 2.8%
B. 3.6%
C. 4.4%
D. 5.2%
E. 6.0%

Assume the total amount is 100

100 * 50/100 = 50 on clothing

100 * 20/100 = 20 on food

100 * 30/100 = 30 on other items

Tax on cloth 4% so 4/100 * 50 = 200/100 = 2

Tax on other items 8% so 8/100 * 30 = 240/100 = 2.40

4.4%

Answer choice C
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dinesh8
Of the total amount that Jill spent on a shopping trip, excluding taxes, she spent 50 percent on clothing, 20 percent on food, and 30 percent on other items. If Jill paid a 4 percent tax on the clothing, no tax on the food, and an 8 percent tax on all other items, then the total tax that she paid was what percent of the total amount that she spent, excluding taxes?

A. 2.8%
B. 3.6%
C. 4.4%
D. 5.2%
E. 6.0%

Solution :

Tax on Clothes : 4 % of 50% of items = 4% x 50% = 2%
Tax on Other Items : 8 % of 30% of items = 8% x 30% = 2.4 %

Total Tax combined : 2% = 2.4 % = 4.4%

Hence Answer C
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How I approached this question 🙋‍♂️

50*26/25 + 30*8/10 + 20
=52+32.4+20
=104.4%

Which 4.4% more than actual.

So C is the answer.
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When you see a percent question it is often easier to pick the number 100. Let's say the total amount Jill spent, before sales taxes, was $100. She therefore spent $50 on clothing $20 on food and $30 on other items.

Now let's look at the amount of sales tax she paid.

She paid 4% sales tax on the $50 worth of clothes, which means $2 in sales tax.

She paid no sales tax at all on the food.

She paid 8% sales tax on remaining $30, is $2.40

So the entire sales tax she paid was $4.40

$4.40 is 4.4% of 100.

Answer C
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