Carcass wrote:
James purchased Medicine A for x dollars, which included a sales tax of 5%. Kate was charged 5% for sales tax on x dollars that Medicine B costs.
Quantity A |
Quantity B |
Sales tax paid by James |
Sales tax paid by Kate |
A)The quantity in Column A is greater.
B)The quantity in Column B is greater.
C)The two quantities are equal.
D)The relationship cannot be determined from the information given.
GIVEN: James purchased Medicine A for x dollars, which included a sales tax of 5% Let C = the cost of the medicine BEFORE TAX
So, 0.05C = the 5% sales tax James paid on the medicine
We can write: C + 0.05C = x
Simplify to get: 1.05C = x
So, C = x/1.05
In other words x/1.05 = the cost of the medicine BEFORE TAX
So, the sales tax James paid = 5% of x/1.05
=
0.05x/1.05GIVEN: Kate was charged 5% for sales tax on x dollars that Medicine B costsSo,
0.05x = the 5% sales tax Kate paid on the medicine
We get:
QUANTITY A:
0.05x/1.05QUANTITY B:
0.05xAt this point, we might already recognize that Quantity B is greater.
However to clear up any doubt, we can divide both quantities by 0.05x to get:
QUANTITY A:1/1.05
QUANTITY B:1
At this point, we can certainly see that Quantity B is greater
Answer: B
Cheers,
Brent