Given:
A shoe store uses a 115% markup on cost.
Selling price of pair of shoes = $85.49
To find:
The cost of shoes before markup.
Solution:
Let x be the cost of shoes before markup.
A shoe store uses a 115% markup on cost.
So, the selling price of the shoes is
[tex]S.P.=x+\dfrac{115}{100}x[/tex]
[tex]S.P.=x+1.15x[/tex]
[tex]S.P.=2.15x[/tex]
Selling price of pair of shoes is $85.49.
[tex]2.15x=85.49[/tex]
[tex]x=\dfrac{85.49}{2.15}[/tex]
[tex]x=39.76279[/tex]
[tex]x\approx 39.76[/tex]
Therefore, the cost of shoes before markup is $39.76.
