document.write( "<A HREF=/cgi-bin/jump-to-question.mpl?question=490209>Question 490209</A>: <I><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> this is first time algebra and it is confusing. were do i start with this proble\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "profit=$0.15 x number of e-readers sold - $28\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "values given in 1000 </SPAN>\n" );
document.write( "</I><HR><TABLE width=100%><TR><TD><B><A HREF=http://www.algebra.com/>Algebra.Com's</A> Answer #333950 by </B><A HREF=/tutors/aboutme.mpl?userid=Theo><B>Theo(13342)</B></A><img src=\"/images/stars/stars-13.gif\" alt=\"\" >&nbsp;<A HREF=/tutors/aboutme.mpl?userid=Theo><IMG SRC=http://www.algebra.com/images/aboutme-small.gif BORDER=0 alt=\"About Me\" VALIGN=MIDDLE></A>&nbsp;<IMG SRC=http://www.algebra.com/cgi-bin/show-face.mpl?user=Theo><BR>You can <A HREF=\"/cgi-bin/embed-solution.mpl?show=1&solution=333950\">put this solution on YOUR website!</A><BR><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> your equation is:\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "profit = .15 times the number of e-readers sold minus 28\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "sounds like you have a fixed cost of 28 that needs to be taken care of before you can get a profit.\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "let x equal the number of e-readers sold.\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "your equation becomes:\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "profit = .15 * x - 28\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "if profit is negative then you've taken a loss.<BR>\n" );
document.write( "if profit is positive then you've taken a profit.<BR>\n" );
document.write( "if profit is equal to 0 then you've broken even.\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "to find out what the break even point is, set profit equal to 0 and solve for x.\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "you get:\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "0 = .15 * x - 28<BR>\n" );
document.write( "add 28 to both sides of the equation to get .15x = 28<BR>\n" );
document.write( "divide both sides of the equation by .15 to get x = 28/.15 which becomes:<BR>\n" );
document.write( "x = 186.66666667\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "you need to sell at least 187 e-readers to make a profit.<BR>\n" );
document.write( "if you sell 186 e-readers you take a loss.<BR>\n" );
document.write( "you will break even if  you sell 186.66666667 e-readers.<BR>\n" );
document.write( "since this is impossible, you will never break exactly even but you will get close.\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "assume the number of e-readers sold is 186.<BR>\n" );
document.write( "your profit is .15*186 - 28 = -.l\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "assume the number of e-readers sold is 187.<BR>\n" );
document.write( "your profit is .15*187 - 28 = .05\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "assume the number of e-readers sold is 186.666666667, ignoring the fact that you can't sell a partial number of e-readers.<BR>\n" );
document.write( "your profit is .15 * 186.6666667 - 28 = 0<BR>\n" );
document.write( "any difference from 0 is due to rounding error since 186.6666667 is really 186.666666666666666666666666666666 all the way to infinity.<BR>\n" );
document.write( "the exact number is 186 and 2/3 which you can use in the calculation in place of the decimal equivalent.<BR>\n" );
document.write( "you get profit = .15 * (186 + 2/3) - 28 which becomes:<BR>\n" );
document.write( "profit = .15 * 186 + .15 * 2/3 - 28 which becomes:<BR>\n" );
document.write( "profit = 27.9 + .1 - 28 which becomes 28 - 28 which becomes 0.\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "if the values are given in 1000, this means that we would have to multiply the answer by 1000 to get the real numbers.\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "assume that 500 e-readers were sold.\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "profit would be equal to .15 * 500 - 28 which results in:<BR>\n" );
document.write( "profit = 47\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "since we're really dealing in thousands, then 28 represents 28,000 and 500 represents 500,000 and the equation then becomes:\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "profit = .15 * 500,000 - 28,000 which resuls in:<BR>\n" );
document.write( "profit = 47,000\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "that's my interpretation of the statement \"values given in 1000\"\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "that, of course, is open to interpretation, and you need to verify that's what is meant before assuming the conversion i just told you is correct. </SPAN>\n" );
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