5. A decision at the margin
Larry is a hard-working college freshman. On Saturday, he decides to work nonstop until he has answered 200 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.
Time
Total Problems Answered
8:00 AM
0
9:00 AM
80
10:00 AM
140
11:00 AM
180
Noon
200
Use the table to answer the following questions.
The marginal, or additional, gain from Larry's second hour of work, from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM, problems.
The marginal gain from Larry's fourth hour of work, from 11:00 AM to noon, problems.
Later, the teaching assistant in Larry's economics course gives him some advice. Based on experience, the teaching assistant says, working on 70 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, 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
5. A decision at the margin
Larry is a hard-working college freshman. On Saturday, he decides to work nonstop until he has answered 200 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.
| Time | Total Problems Answered |
|---|---|
| 8:00 AM | 0 |
| 9:00 AM | 80 |
| 10:00 AM | 140 |
| 11:00 AM | 180 |
| Noon | 200 |
Use the table to answer the following questions.
The marginal, or additional, gain from Larry's second hour of work, from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM, problems.
The marginal gain from Larry's fourth hour of work, from 11:00 AM to noon, problems.
Later, the teaching assistant in Larry's economics course gives him some advice. Based on experience, the teaching assistant says, working on 70 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, 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
Related textbook solutions
Related questions
3. A decision at the margin
Van is a hard-working college senior. On Thursday, he decides to work nonstop until he has answered 200 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.
| Time | Total Problems Answered |
|---|---|
| 8:00 AM | 0 |
| 9:00 AM | 80 |
| 10:00 AM | 140 |
| 11:00 AM | 180 |
| Noon | 200 |
Use the table to answer the following questions.
The marginal, or additional, gain from Van's first hour of work, from 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM, is:
The marginal gain from Van's third hour of work, from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, is:
Later, the teaching assistant in Van's economics course gives him some advice. Based on past experience, the teaching assistant says, working on 30 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?
1 hour working on problems, 3 hours reading
2 hours working on problems, 2 hours reading
3 hours working on problems, 1 hour reading
4 hours working on problems, 0 hours reading
