Emily want a new dress. She only has $30 to spend. She lives in Florida where the sales tax is 5%. About (estimate) how much can the dress cost if she wants to spend all her money

Answer 1

To determine how much Emily can spend on the dress before tax, we need to account for the 5% sales tax in Florida. If we let \( x \) represent the cost of the dress before tax, the total cost including tax would be:

\[ \text{Total Cost} = x + 0.05x = 1.05x \]

Emily wants the total cost to equal $30, so we set up the equation:

\[ 1.05x = 30 \]

To find \( x \), we divide both sides by 1.05:

\[ x = \frac{30}{1.05} \approx 28.57 \]

So, Emily can spend approximately $28.57 on the dress before tax. If we round this down to a more practical price, she can look for dresses costing around $28.50 or less to ensure she stays within her budget after tax.