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The Fug has mathematical hints for your profit

Functions   Limits     Differentiation   Differentiation Max and Min  
Profit, Cost, and Revenue Linear Programming   Integration

I will try to add on more each week, so keep looking at this space.
If you find a mistake,
please tell me. .I may give you a surprise

 

 

Profit, Cost, and Revenue Functions

Revenue Function, R(x)                     Total income from producing units.

Cost Function, C(x)                            Total cost of producing the units.

Profit Function, P(x)                          Total Income minus Total Cost.

        Profit =  Income -    Cost

        P(x)   = R(x)   -    C(x)

Marginal is rate of change of cost, revenue or profit with the respect to the number of units.

This means differentiate the cost, revenue or profit.  Using any of the ways of differentiation.

 

Marginal Revenue, R’(x)                                  The derivative of R(x).

Marginal Cost Function, C’(x)                        The derivative of C(x).

Marginal Profit Function, P’(x)                      The derivative of P(x).

In real words, the word “marginal” can be read as “ the next unit”, so

Marginal Revenue, R’(x)                                  The next unit will bring this amount of Revenue.

Marginal Cost Function, C‘(x)                        The next unit will Cost this amount.  

Marginal Profit Function, P’(x)                      The next unit will make a Profit of this amount.

A little hint:
Marginal and Approximate are words often used in this type of question so think 
MAN

Average value is just as usual dividing the amount by the total number of items.

Average Revenue                                            Total Revenue from n items divided by n items.

Average Cost                                                   Total Cost of n items divided by n items.

Average Profit                                                 Total Profit from n items divided by n items.

 So these questions involve substituting values and differentiation.

Example One

A manufacturing company  produces and sells tables. The cost function is given by

            C(x) = 4x +  120Ö x + 4000 where x is the number of tables

The tables are sold for $200 each.

Find the following:

  1. The total cost of producing 25 tables.
  2. The total revenue and total profit from selling 25 tables.
  3. The approximate cost of producing the 201st table.
  4. The approximate profit on the next table after 200 tables have been  sold.
  5. The average cost per table of 200 tables.

 

    This is how you  go:

  1. Don’t be worried as it really is simple, just put 25 wherever you see x  in C(x).
        1. C(x)  =  4x +    120Ö x + 4000.

          C(25) = 4(25) +  120(Ö 25) + 4000.

          C(25) = 100 + 600 + 4000   = 4700

    Now you know me, I like  that little sentence at the end. Just use the question to help you write the  sentence.

    The total cost of  producing 25 tables is $4700.

  2. Revenue is Income, Cost is expense and the difference (Revenue - Cost) is Profit or Loss.
  3. So the Revenue is the  amount you sell the tables for multiplied by how many tables.
    Once again put x = 25

    R(x) =   200 x =200(25) =   5000

    P(x) = R(x) -C(x)  = 5000 -  4700  = 300 (4700 came from part 1)

    Remember those sentences:

    The total revenue from selling 25 tables is $5000.

    The total profit from  selling 25 tables is $300.

  4. The approximate cost of producing the 201st table.
  5. This is a little trickier than the first two parts, look back to the Marginal Cost.  So we want to know after producing 200 tables, how much does it cost to produce one more table.  Another way this could have been written is after  producing 200 tables, how much does it cost for the next table. Remember think MAN.
    So read the words very carefully.

    We will have to  differentiate C(x) first

              C(x) = 4x +  120 Ö x + 4000

              C(x) = 4x + 120  x 1 / 2 + 4000

              C’(x) = 4 +  120   1/2 x1 / 2 -  1 + 0

    Usually this is just simple differentiation

              C’(x) = 4  + 60 x - 1/2

    Now the x-value  that we are going to use is 200 as the next table will be 201st.

              C’(x) = 4  + 60( 200 - 1/2 )

              C’(x) = 4  + 60(0.0707)

              C’(x) = 4  + 4.242   = 8.242

    The approximate cost of  producing the 201st table is $8.24.

  4. The approximate profit on the next table after 200 tables have been sold.

    R(x) = 200x            C(x) = 4x + 120Ö x  + 4000

         P(x) = R(x) -   C(x) = 200x - (4x + 120Ö x  + 4000) = 196x - 120Ö x  - 4000

    Now we see the word  approximate and we think differentiate and put 200 in for the value of x.  Remember 201 would be the next number after 200.

    P’(x) = 196 - 60 x - 1/2

    When x = 200,          P’(x)  = 196 -60 ( 200 - 1/2 ) =  196 - 60 (0.0707)

            P’(x) = 196 - 4.242 =  191.758

   The approximate  profit on the next table after 200 tables have been sold is $191.76.

   5.  The average cost per table of 200 tables.

    This is just like any  other average so find the cost for 200 tables and then divide by  200.

        C(x) = 4x + 120 Ö x  + 4000.

    The cost of 200 tables is

        C(200) = 4(200) +  120Ö 200 + 4000.

        C(200) = 800 + 120(14.1421) + 4000  = $6497.06

    The average cost is  dividing this amount by 200.

        Average Cost (200) = 6497.06 / 200 = $32.49

    The average  cost per table of 200 tables is $32.49.

 

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Linear Programming

This again is not so difficult as you first think but it does require you to think! We will  work through an example as it is easier that way.

Example  One

A farmer has 100 acres on which he can plant two crops; wheat or barley.

The following table gives the expenses associated with each crop.

Item

Cost per Acre

Barley

 

Seed

$12

Fertiliser

$58

Planting/Harvesting

$50

Total

$120

Wheat

 

Seed

$40

Fertiliser

$80

Planting/Harvesting

$90

Total

$210

The farmer has 4,000 m3 of storage space. Each acre yields an average of 110  m3 of Barley and 30m3 Wheat.  The farmer has  available capital of $15 000.

If the net profit per m3 of Barley is $1.30 and for Wheat is $2.00, this is after all expenses  have been subtracted. How should the farmer plant the 100 acres to maximise the  profits?

The first step is to say what the letters are standing for and to do this look at the question.  The last sentence is “How should the farmer plant the 100 acres to maximise the profits?” helps us as we see that  we need to know how many acres of each crop to plant.

    Let x be the number of acres of Barley planted.

    Let y be the number of acres of Wheat planted.

Sometimes what the letters are standing for may be given to you.

Now let us look  at the question, we are given some information about how many acres, how much money and how much storage the farmer has. So in these types of questions, look  for what you are told about the situation as a fact.  Another hint is put all of the quantities with the same units together i.e.  m3 , acres  and $.

“A farmer has 100 acres on which he can  plant two crops...” so he can not plant more than 100 acres but sometimes it could be profitable for him to plant less than 100 acres.
Now we have to write that as a mathematical  statement:

          x + y £ 100

From the question we know that ““The farmer has available capital of $15 000.” so his expenses cannot be more than this value.  So we must work out what the expense is for planting each of the crops.

Look back at the table, to see the cost for Barley and Wheat, the numbers in  Green.

Item

Cost per Acre

Barley

 

Seed

$12

Fertiliser

$58

Planting/Harvesting

$50

Total

$120

Wheat

 

Seed

$40

Fertiliser

$80

Planting/Harvesting

$90

Total

$210

    If x  is the  number of acres of Barley planted, then the cost of planting Barley is  $120x.

    If y is the  number of acres of Wheat planted. then the cost of planting Wheat is  $210y.

Putting all of that together, the farmer cannot spend more than $15 000 and his cost for the  crops is (120x plus 210y).  In mathematical terms,

          120x + 210y £   15 000

From the question we are told that “The farmer has 4,000 m3 of storage space” so how much room does Barley and Wheat take?  The question tells us “Each acre yields an average of 110 m3 of Barley and 30m3 Wheat”. So writing this mathematically, we have

          110x + 30y £ 4 000

Now we want to know the maximum profit for the farmer. So let us think, what do we have to do  to find the profit for each crop. In the question, we are told the profit per mprofit per m3 of Barley is $1.30 and for Wheat is $2.00” and the  average yield for each crop “Each acre yields an average of 110 m3 of Barley and  30m3 of Wheat” so multiplying these two quantities together for each crop and then adding the two will give the overall profit for both crops. So writing this mathematically, we have

          Profit = (1.30) 110x + (2.00) 30y

          Profit = 143x +  60y

So let us now collect all the inequalities together

           x +   y  £   100
      120x + 210y 
      £   15 000
      110x + 30y
      £ 4 000

      Profit = 143x + 60y, this is what  we want to maximise

This is where  we will get serious and have to graph all these lines on a diagram at one time.
Now this is where my diagrams may not look so good due to my lack of computing skills but please try to follow it.

How do we draw the inequalities as lines, we will think of the equations as equal to rather than less than or greater than, then we will put x = 0 and find out  the y-value and then put y = 0 and find out the x-value. These are the y and x intercepts on  the graph.

      Let’s show how we can do that using  110x + 30y  = 4 000

      Let x = 0            so 30y = 4 000     y = 400/3   = 133.333.

      Let y = 0          so 110x =  4 000   x = 400/11 = 36.3636

Once we have shaded the correct side to the left for less than and to the right for greater than then we will mark the corners of that area.

The pink line  is   110x +  30y  =   4 000
The green line is x + y  =  100
The blue line is   120x + 210y = 15 000
The  area required is shaded in yellow

                                      

The  multicoloured dots A, B, C and D are the points of interest as these are the  extremes of the shaded area.

We will have to  find the co-ordinates of these points, some are easy and others are not

    Point A  x = 0  120x + 210y  = 15 000 210y = 15 000  y = 500/7 = 71.429
    Point B  x = 0   y = 0
    Point C  y = 0      
    110x + 30y =  4 000 110x =  4 000 x = 400/11 = 36.364
    Point D needs a bit of work as it is not on any of the axes.

    We will  have  to solve either on a graphics calculator or simultaneous equations to find the intersection point.

      110x + 30y =  4 000  1  multiply each term by 7   770x + 210y  = 28 000   3

      120x + 210y =  15 000    2

       

      770x + 210y  =   28 000    3        Equation 3 minus Equation 2

      120x + 210y =    15 000   2

      650x = 13 000    so x = 13 000/650 = 20

Substituting the value of x into equation 1 (any of the equations would do)

      110(20) + 30y  =  4 000
      2200     + 30y =  4 000

          30y = 1 800    so y = 1 800/30 = 60.

So the co-ordinates of point D are x = 20 and y = 60.

We find the  following table by writing in the co-ordinates and then the formula which we  want to maximise or minimise.  If we want to maximise then we choose the largest value and the opposite if we want to minimise i.e. the smallest.

So we can see  that the formula, Profit = $6 460 
that is where the expression 143x + 60y is at a maximum as seen in the table below
(point D on the diagram where x = 20 and y = 60),

Points

A

B

C

D

x

0

0

36.364

20

y

71.429

0

0

60

143x

0

0

5200

2  860

60y

4286

0

0

3  600