1. **State the problem:** A pair of dress pants costs 60. This price is 3 times the cost of a pair of sweatpants. We need to find the cost of the sweatpants, denoted as $s$. 2. **Write the multiplication equation:** Since the dress pants cost 3 times as much as the sweatpants, we have: $$60 = 3 \times s$$ 3. **Write the division equation:** To find $s$, divide both sides of the equation by 3: $$s = \frac{60}{3}$$ 4. **Calculate the cost:** $$s = 20$$ 5. **Answer:** The sweatpants cost 20.