A bicycle has a listed price of $615.98 before tax. If the sales tax rate is 9.75%, find the total cost of the bicycle with sales tax included. Round your answer to the nearest cent, as necessary.

Step 1
Write your problem.
537.95 x 9.5% = ?

Step 2
Convert the % to a decimal:
9.5% to 0.095

Step 3
Rewrite the problem with decimal replacing the percentage.

Now the problem looks like this:
537.95 x 0.095 = 51.11
This problem gives the amount of the tax.

Step 4
Add the original price with the tax amount:
537.95 + 51.11 = $589.06 (total cost)