SOLUTION:
Step 1:
In this question, we are given that:
There is sales tax of $9.00 on an item that costs $ 120.00 before tax.
The sales tax on a different item is $ 19.05.
We are meant to find how much the second item cost before tax.
Step 2:
Assuming that there is an equal percentage of tax,
and let the second item cost before tax be y,
then we have that:
[tex]\frac{9}{120}\text{ = }\frac{19.05}{y}[/tex]Cross-multiply, we have that:
[tex]\begin{gathered} 9\text{ x y = 19.05 x 120} \\ 9y\text{ = 2286} \\ \end{gathered}[/tex]Divide both sides by 9, we have that:
[tex]\begin{gathered} y\text{ = }\frac{2286}{9} \\ y\text{ = 254} \end{gathered}[/tex]CONCLUSION:
The cost of the second item before tax = $ 254
