Tracy is taking advantage of a 25% off sale to buy a new coat. if the coat's sale price is $135, what was the original cost?

a) $150
b) $155
c) $160
d) $180

When there's a sale of 25% off, that means you are paying 75% of the price.
So what the question is really saying is that you need to find what $135 is 75% of.
This is a case of "number is percent of what."
To solve this, you must divide the number by the percent.
75% = 0.75
135 / 0.75 = 180
This means that 135 is 75% of 180.

So the original cost of the coat is $180.

Hope this helps!