# Percents

## Solve Sales Tax, Commission, and Discount Applications


### Solve Sales Tax Applications

Sales tax and commissions are applications of percent in our everyday lives. To solve these applications, we will follow the same strategy we used in the section on decimal operations. We show it again here for easy reference.
Remember that whatever the application, once we write the sentence with the given information (Step 2), we can translate it to a percent equation and then solve it.
Do you pay a tax when you shop in your city or state? In many parts of the United States, sales tax is added to the purchase price of an item. See . The sales tax is determined by computing a percent of the purchase price.
To find the sales tax multiply the purchase price by the sales tax rate. Remember to convert the sales tax rate from a percent to a decimal number. Once the sales tax is calculated, it is added to the purchase price. The result is the total cost—this is what the customer pays.

### Solve Commission Applications

Sales people often receive a commission, or percent of total sales, for their sales. Their income may be just the commission they earn, or it may be their commission added to their hourly wages or salary. The commission they earn is calculated as a certain percent of the price of each item they sell. That percent is called the rate of commission.
To find the commission on a sale, multiply the rate of commission by the total sales. Just as we did for computing sales tax, remember to first convert the rate of commission from a percent to a decimal.

### Solve Discount Applications

Applications of discount are very common in retail settings . When you buy an item on sale, the original price of the item has been reduced by some dollar amount. The discount rate, usually given as a percent, is used to determine the amount of the discount. To determine the amount of discount, we multiply the discount rate by the original price. We summarize the discount model in the box below.
The sale price should always be less than the original price. In some cases, the amount of discount is a fixed dollar amount. Then we just find the sale price by subtracting the amount of discount from the original price.
In , the amount of discount was a set amount,  In  the discount is given as a percent of the original price.
There may be times when you buy something on sale and want to know the discount rate. The next example will show this case.

### Solve Mark-up Applications

Applications of mark-up are very common in retail settings. The price a retailer pays for an item is called the wholesale price. The retailer then adds a mark-up to the wholesale price to get the list price, the price he sells the item for. The mark-up is usually calculated as a percent of the wholesale price. The percent is called the mark-up rate. To determine the amount of mark-up, multiply the mark-up rate by the wholesale price. We summarize the mark-up model in the box below.
The list price should always be more than the wholesale price.

### Key Concepts

1. Sales Tax The sales tax is a percent of the purchase price.

2. Commission A commission is a percentage of total sales as determined by the rate of commission.

3. Discount An amount of discount is a percent off the original price, determined by the discount rate.

4. Mark-up The mark-up is the amount added to the wholesale price, determined by the mark-up rate.


### Practice Makes Perfect

Solve Sales Tax Applications 
In the following exercises, find ⓐ the sales tax and ⓑ the total cost.
In the following exercises, find the sales tax rate.
Solve Commission Applications 
In the following exercises, find the commission.
In the following exercises, find the rate of commission.
Solve Discount Applications 
In the following exercises, find the sale price.
In the following exercises, find ⓐ the amount of discount and ⓑ the sale price.
In the following exercises, find ⓐ the amount of discount and ⓑ the discount rate. (Round to the nearest tenth of a percent if needed.)
Solve Mark-up Applications 
In the following exercises, find ⓐ the amount of the mark-up and ⓑ the list price.

### Everyday Math


### Writing Exercises


### Self Check

ⓐ After completing the exercises, use this checklist to evaluate your mastery of the objectives of this section.



ⓑ What does this checklist tell you about your mastery of this section? What steps will you take to improve?
