Lucas bought some plumbing equipment for $37.48. The price the paid included a sales tax of 5% what was the price of the plumbing equipment before the tax was added

This means that 37.48 is 105%. Find 1% by dividing 37.48 by 105. Multiply the answer you found by 100.

Given:

Price paid including tax: $37.48

sales tax = 5%

This means that $37.48 is equivalent to 105%

To get the value of the 100% or its original price, we divide the price paid by its percentage rate

$37.48 : 1.05 = $35.70 value of the original price

$35.70 * 5% = $1.78 value of sales tax

$35.70 + 1.78 = $37.48