Suppose the local sales tax rate is $6.5\%$ and you buy a car for $\$12,500$. What is the car's total cost?
Hint: Find how much tax is due first.

• A. $\$14562.5$
• B. $\$12506.5$
• C. $\$13312.5$
• D. $\$14000$

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Identify the given values: the sales tax rate is 6.5%, and the price of the car is \$12,500.
2. Convert the sales tax rate from a percentage to a decimal by dividing by 100: \$6.5\% = \frac{6.5}{100} = 0.065$.
3. Calculate the amount of sales tax by multiplying the car price by the decimal tax rate: \(\text{Tax} = 12500 \times 0.065\).
4. Add the sales tax amount to the original price of the car to find the total cost: \(\text{Total Cost} = 12500 + \text{Tax}\).
5. Write the final expression for the total cost without calculating the numeric value: \(\text{Total Cost} = 12500 + (12500 \times 0.065)\).