Answer: the original price of the shorts was $25
Step-by-step explanation:
Let x represent the original price of the shorts.
The store is having a sale in which all items are reduced by 20%. This means that the amount of discount on the shorts is
20/100 × x = 0.2x
The price of the shorts would be
x - 0.2x = 0.8x
If the sales tax is 5%, then the amount of sales tax charged is
5/100 × 0.8x = 0.04x
The final cost of the shorts would be
0.8x + 0.04x = 0.84x
Including tax, Jennifer paid $21 for a pair of shorts. This means that
0.84x = 21
x = 21/0.84
x = 25
