First, you convert 5% to decimal. For your info, percents are always equal to 100. So, you divide 5 by a 100, which gives you 0.05. Then, you multiply 2.95 by 0.05. 2.95 x 0.05 is 0.1475 which is about 0.15. Then, you add 0.15 to 2.95. The total cost of a $2.95 notebook plus 5% is about $3.10.