Your total benefits from spending time with your spouse are shown in the following table.
Hours per Day
Total Benefit
0
0
1
14
2
26
3
36
4
44
5
50
6
54
7
56
8
56
Alternatively, you have the option of working as many hours as you want, earning $11 per hour. Assume this is the next best use of your time. Use the marginal principle to find your optimal number of hours to spend with your spouse per day.
The optimal amount of time for you to spend with your spouse is _______hours per day.
Your total benefits from spending time with your spouse are shown in the following table.
|
Hours per Day |
Total Benefit |
|
0 |
0 |
|
1 |
14 |
|
2 |
26 |
|
3 |
36 |
|
4 |
44 |
|
5 |
50 |
|
6 |
54 |
|
7 |
56 |
|
8 |
56 |
Alternatively, you have the option of working as many hours as you want, earning $11 per hour. Assume this is the next best use of your time. Use the marginal principle to find your optimal number of hours to spend with your spouse per day.
The optimal amount of time for you to spend with your spouse is _______hours per day.
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
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
