Question 242803:  Joanne sells silk-screened T-shirts at community festivals and craft fairs. Her marginal cost to produce one t-shirt is $450. Her total cost to produce 80 t-shirts is $420, and she sells them for $8 each. 
a) find the linear cost function for joanne's t-shirt production 
b) How many t-shirts must she produce and sell in order to break even? 
c) How many t-shirts must she produce and sell to make a profit of $900?
 
I need to know how to do it step by step, if anyone can help!! Thank you so much 
 Found 2 solutions by  oberobic, stanbon: Answer by oberobic(2304)      (Show Source): 
You can  put this solution on YOUR website! First, define your terms.  
MC = marginal cost to make 1 t=shirt, which has to be $4.50 (not $450). 
The cost to print 80 shirts is 420. 
80*4.5 = 360, so there is an additional cost of $60. 
Since this is not a marginal cost, it must be a fixed cost. 
Recall that Total Cost = Fixed Cost + (Marginal Cost * Number of items produced) 
TC = FC + MC(X), where X is the number of items 
TC = 60 + 4.5X  (the answer to part a, the cost function) 
Now we should note that $8 is the Price that she charges buyers. 
P = 8 
Profit = P*X -TC = 8X - 60 - 4.5X 
Break even is the point where Profit = 0. 
0 = 8X - 60 - 4.5X 
Add 60 to both sided 
60 = 8X - 4.5X = 3.5X 
Dividing by 3.5 
60/3.5 = X = 17 and a fraction, so she has to sell 18 shirts. 
18 * 8 = 144 total revenue 
60 + 4.5*18 = 141 total cost 
So that's very close to break even.  Close enough. 
Continuing with the question of $900 profit... 
900 = 8X - 60 - 4.5X  (by substituting back into the equation) 
Adding 60 to both sides: 
960 = 3.5X 
Dividing by 3.5. 
274 (and a fraction) = X 
Therefore, we propose that when she sells 274 shirts, she earns $900 profit. 
Check your work! 
Profit = Total Revenue - Total Cost 
Profit = $8 per shirt * 274 shirts - $60 fixed cost - $4.50 * 274 shirts 
Profit = 2192 - 60 - 1233 
Profit = 2192 - 1293 = 899 
That checks as close as we can get it. 
Why did I ignore the fractions? 
You cannot sell a fraction of a shirt.
 
  
 Answer by stanbon(75887)      (Show Source): 
You can  put this solution on YOUR website! Joanne sells silk-screened T-shirts at community festivals and craft fairs.  
Her marginal cost to produce one t-shirt is $450. 
Her total cost to produce 80 t-shirts is $420, and she sells them for $8 each. 
a) find the linear cost function for joanne's t-shirt production 
You have 2 points: (1,450), (80,420) 
-- 
slope = (420-450)/(80-1) = -30/79  
intercept: 450 = (-30/79)*1 + b 
b = 450.38 
C(x) = (-30/79)x+450.38 
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b) How many t-shirts must she produce and sell in order to break even? 
income = cost 
8x = (-30/79)x+450.38 
(8+(30/79))x = 450.38 
x = 53.75 
Round up to 54 t-shirts 
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c) How many t-shirts must she produce and sell to make a profit of $900? 
Solve 8x-[(-30/79)+459.38] = 900 for "x". 
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Cheers, 
Stan H.  
 
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