Question

On a recent art supply shopping trip, excluding taxes, Mark spent of his total on paints, on canvases, and on brushes. If paints are taxed at , canvases at , and brushes at , then the total tax he paid was what percent of the total amount he spent, excluding taxes?
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Answer Choices

  • A.
  • B.
  • C.
  • D.
  • E.

Steps

ExplanationCalculationsHelp
We first create a variable T for the total pre-tax spending.
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TRANS1-A
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We translate "40 percent", "25 percent", and "35 percent" of the total pre-tax spending into expressions in terms of T.
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TRANS2-A
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We translate "5 percent tax on the paints", "3 percent tax on the canvases", and "7 percent tax on the brushes" into decimal multipliers applied to each category of spending.
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TRANS2-A
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We add these tax amounts and express the total as a percentage of the pre-tax spending.
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Final Answer

B