4. A decision at the margin Nick is a hard-working college senior. One Saturday,
ID: 1135080 • Letter: 4
Question
4. A decision at the margin
Nick is a hard-working college senior. One Saturday, he decides to work nonstop until he has answered 50 practice problems for his economics course. He starts work at 8:00 AM and uses a table to keep track of his progress throughout the day. He notices that as he gets tired, it takes him longer to solve each problem.
Use the table to answer the following questions.
The marginal, or additional, gain from Nick’s first hour of work, from 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM, isproblems.
The marginal gain from Nick’s third hour of work, from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, isproblems.
Later, the teaching assistant in Nick’s economics course gives him some advice. “Based on past experience,” the teaching assistant says, “working on 12.5 problems raises a student’s exam score by about the same amount as reading the textbook for 1 hour.” For simplicity, assume students always cover the same number of pages during each hour they spend reading.
Given this information, in order to use his 4 hours of study time to get the best exam score possible, how many hours should he have spent working on problems, and how many should he have spent reading?
0 hours working on problems, 4 hours reading
1 hour working on problems, 3 hours reading
2 hours working on problems, 2 hours reading
3 hours working on problems, 1 hour reading
Time Total Problems Answered 8:00 AM 0 9:00 AM 20 10:00 AM 35 11:00 AM 45 Noon 50Explanation / Answer
Solution :-
The marginal, or additional, gain from Nick’s first hour of work, from 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM, is =
= 20 - 0 = 20 Answers
The marginal gain from Nick’s third hour of work, from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, is =
= 45 - 35 = 10 Answers
The teacher now states that 12.5 problems raises a student’s exam score by about the same amount as reading the textbook for 1 hour.” For simplicity, assume students always cover the same number of pages during each hour they spend reading.
So the student can spend 1 hour working on problems, 3 hours reading
Related Questions
drjack9650@gmail.com
Navigate
Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.