Finite Math 107 A
Exam 2 Practice Problems
ANSWERS
Tom Linton, Spring 2004
  1. 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:
  2. 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.
    1. On the axes below, mark the 2 points referred to above, which lie on the demand curve, with a "dot".
    2. On the axes below, mark the 2 points referred to above, which lie on the supply curve, with an "x".
      a set of axes
    3. 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.
    4. Find the linear equation for the demand price, D(q). What is the demand price if q = 200?
    5. Find the linear equation for the supply price, S(q). How many wings will you supply at a price of 40 cents per wing?
    6. 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?
    7. What is the numeric value of the p-intercept for the demand curve? Interpret this value.
    8. What is the numeric value of the q-intercept for the supply curve? Interpret this value.
    9. 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.
    10. Re-write the system given (before it is solved) in the last part in matrix form A*X = B, where X = .
    11. Find the matrix A-1.
    12. Verify (by matrix multiplication) that A-1*B also gives the equilibrium point.
  3. 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.
    1. Define the variables and set up a system of equations to determine the number of sandwiches of each size in the order.
    2. 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?
  4. If f(x) = 2x + 6, and g(x) = 3x + 9, where do the graphs of f(x) and g(x) intersect?
  5. 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).
    1. matrix image
    2. matrix image
    3. matrix image
  6. 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?
  7. Consider the matricies A = matrix A and B = matrix B.
    1. What is a2,3? How about b3,1?
    2. What is BT?
    3. Find the matrix product A*B.
    4. Find A-1.
    5. Find B-1.
    6. Solve the system A*X= solution 1
    7. Solve the system B*X = solution 2
    8. Solve the system A*X= solution 3. Your answer will involve the unknown constant a.
  8. Consider the system of linear equations: 2x - 2y + 3z = 7, -2x + y - 3z = 2, -2x - y + 2z = -3.
    1. Rewrite the system as an augmented matrix.
    2. What are the dimensions of your augmented matrix?
    3. Carry out the row operation R1 + R2 -> R2 on your augmented matrix.
    4. Carry out the row operation R1 + R3 -> R3 on your NEW augmented matrix.
    5. What row operations would you use to make the second column of your new augmented matrix look like 0,1,0?