Richard bought a pair of shoes for $37.00, a tie for $22.00, and a new belt for $17.00. If the sales tax is 7.5%, how much sales tax did Richard pay for these items?
It seems to me, that if you were to add the price of all three items together, then multiply by 7.5%, you'd have the answer. Remember that 7.5% = .075 ... in other words, that is the number you would multiply the sum of the items by. Does that help?