Math Is Fun Forum

Kodiak

Member

Registered: 2006-06-30

Posts: 6

Sales Commision Word Problem

Hi everyone,
I am in the process of reviewing some Algebra that I'll need to know for my next school year and I am wondering if someone can help me out with a word problem that I am confused with.

Here is what is says:

One employee of a retail electronics store is paid a base salary of $1200 a month plus a 3% commission on sales she makes during the month. What were her sales last month if she earned a total of $1828.17?

Now I will do my best to explain how I think the problem should be solved:

Since we need to find out what the employee's sales were for the last month, we first subtract her monthly salary from her last month's earnings:

$1828.17-$1200.00=$628.17

Now we are left with $628.17, which is how much she earned without her monthly salary added in (obviously).

What is the next step that I should take?  Do I multiply $628.17 by 197% or is that way off track? 

I would really appreciate it if someone gave me the steps I would need to take in order to complete a problem such as this. 

Thank you very much for your time! 

Pi Man

Guest

Re: Sales Commision Word Problem

Your first step is exactly right.   The $628.17 is the 3% commission on total sales (T).

T * .03 = $628.17

Divide both sides by .03 and you get T = $20939.

Kodiak

Member

Registered: 2006-06-30

Posts: 6

Re: Sales Commision Word Problem

Thank you very much for your assistance, that makes perfect sense!

Cheers!

Last edited by Kodiak (2006-06-30 08:03:32)