SOLUTION: The average cost of a refrigerator is $700. On average, it costs $100 to provide the electricity for one year and the appliance will last for 15 years a) Determine a function t

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Question 1182922: The average cost of a refrigerator is $700. On average, it costs $100 to provide the electricity for one year and the appliance will last for 15 years
a) Determine a function that gives the annual cost of a refrigerator as a function of the number of years you own the refrigerator.
b)Determine the total annual cost for the refrigerator (Make sure you include the cost of the electricity and remember, you have it for 15 years.
c) What are the asymptotes for this problem and what do they mean in the context of this problem? Is this realistic.
d) If another brand of the refrigerator costs $1000, but can last 20 years is it worth the difference in cost
Answer by Boreal(15235) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
The average cost is C(x)=(700+100x)/x
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C(15)=(2200/15)=$146.67
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graph%28300%2C300%2C-5%2C22%2C-100%2C2500%2C%28700%2B100x%29%2Fx%29
the vertical asymptote is infinite cost at time 0, which makes no physical sense but is mathematically true.
the horizontal asymptote is $100 per year after enough years that the original cost is insignificant compared to the amount of electricity paid for.
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Looking at the average cost for 20 years, assuming everything else is the same except the original cost was $1000, and the average cost is (1000+2000)/20=$150.
For an average cost of $3.33 more at the end one waits 5 more years before one must buy another refrigerator.