The sales tax for an item was $9.80 and it cost $490 before tax. Find the sales tax rate. Write your answer as a percentage.

2%

Step-by-step explanation:

To solve this problem, a proportion would be best! We can set up the first fraction with the two numbers given to us. We'll use t to represent tax, and w to represent the whole. The first fraction will look something like this:

Next, we'll set up our second fraction using knowledge of percents. Every percent is a part of 100%, so we can use 100 as our percent to represent the whole. Since we are solving for the percent that is out of 100, we'll use x to represent it. The final proportion should look like this:

To solve, we just need to cross-multiply and divide! First, multiply 9.80 by 100 to get 980. Finally, divide 980 by 490 to get a final answer of 2%. The sales tax rate is 2%. The final calculations are as follows:

9.80 X 100 = 980

980 / 490 = 2 or 2%