Finite Math 107 A
Exam 2 Practice Problems
ANSWERS
Tom Linton, Spring 2004
- You run a food stand at tulip time and have decided to sell
buffalo
wings,
but are unsure of the price you should set for the spicy treats. You do
know the following pieces of information however:
- If you sell wings for 50 cents each, customers will demand 400
wings
and
you will supply 300 wings.
- If you sell a wing for 75 cents, customers will buy 350 of
them,
while
you will be willing to supply 500 wings.
You are interested in setting the price of a buffalo wing at the
equilibrium
value (where the supply and demand curves intersect). Assume that both
the supply and demand curves are linear for this situation.
- On the axes below, mark the 2 points referred to above, which
lie on
the
demand curve, with a "dot".
- On the axes below, mark the 2 points referred to above, which
lie on the
supply curve, with an "x".
- Draw in the supply and demand curves (connect the dots and x's)
and use
your drawing to estimate the appropriate price for a buffalo wing.
- Find the linear equation for the demand price, D(q). What is
the
demand
price if q = 200?
- Find the linear equation for the supply price, S(q). How many
wings
will you supply at a price of 40 cents per wing?
- Using your graphing calculator, find the equilibrium point, (q,
p). Was
your estimate for the price of a buffalo wing from part (c) close to
correct?
- What is the numeric value of the p-intercept for the demand
curve?
Interpret
this value.
- What is the numeric value of the q-intercept for the supply
curve?
Interpret
this value.
- If we denote both the supply price, S(q), and the demand price,
D(q), as
simply p (in cents), the equilibrium point corresponds to the solution
of the
system
2p + q = 500 and 8p - q = 100. Solve this system using elimination.
- Re-write the system given (before it is solved) in the last
part in
matrix
form A*X = B, where X =
.
- Find the matrix A-1.
- Verify (by matrix multiplication) that A-1*B also
gives the
equilibrium point.
- Sol's deli sells three sizes of pastrami sandwiches, small,
medium, and
large. A small sandwich sells for $3.00 and contains 4 ounces of
pastrami.
A medium sandwich sells for $3.50 and contains 8 ounces of meat, while
the large goes for $4.00, with 11 ounces of pastrami. Sol receives an
order
for 58 pastrami sandwiches that require 26 pounds, 2 ounces of meat
(there
are 16 ounces in a pound), for a total cost of $199.00.
- Define the variables and set up a system of equations to
determine the
number of sandwiches of each size in the order.
- If you had to solve this system of linear equations by
elimination,
what
would your first 2 steps be? Why would you select these steps?
- If f(x) = 2x + 6, and g(x) = 3x + 9, where do the graphs of f(x)
and
g(x)
intersect?
- Each augmented matrix below represents a system of linear
equations (in
the standard variables x,y, etc.). For each matrix, decide
if the system has a unique solution (if so, give this solution), no
solutions, or infinitely many solutions (if so, find three specific
solutions and also describe all solutions with a parameter).



- The Pella Juice Company makes three juice blends: PineOrange,
using 2 quarts of pineapple and 2 quarts of orange juice per gallon;
PineKiwi, using 3 quarts of pineapple and 1 quart of kiwi juice per
gallon; and OrangeKiwi, using 3 quarts of orange and 1 quart of kiwi
juice per gallon. There are 4 quarts in a gallon. Each day the company
has 800 quarts of pineapple juice, 650 quarts of orange juice, and 350
quarts of kiwi juice available. How many gallons of each blend should
the company make each day if it wants to use up all of the supplies?
- Consider the matricies A =
and
B =
.
- What is a2,3? How about
b3,1?
- What is BT?
- Find the matrix product A*B.
- Find A-1.
- Find B-1.
- Solve the system A*
= 
- Solve the system B*
= 
- Solve the system A*
=
. Your answer will
involve the unknown constant a.
- Consider the system of linear equations: 2x - 2y + 3z = 7, -2x +
y - 3z = 2, -2x - y + 2z = -3.
- Rewrite the system as an augmented matrix.
- What are the dimensions of your augmented matrix?
- Carry out the row operation R1 + R2 -> R2 on your
augmented matrix.
- Carry out the row operation R1 + R3 -> R3 on your NEW
augmented matrix.
- What row operations would you use to make the second column of
your new augmented matrix look like
?