A government agency is having problems with personal telephone calls made during working hours.Because each minute of a personal call costs the agency $0.50 in wasted wages,it has decided to hire operators to monitor calls.The agency wants to hire the number of operators that will minimize the total cost of personal calls. $\begin{array}{c}
\begin{array}{c}
\text {Number of}\
\text { operators}\
0\
1\
2\
3\
4\
5\
\end{array}
\begin{array}{c}
\text {Minutes of personal}\
\text { calls(per week) }\
3900\
2300\
1300\
600\
100\
0\
\end{array}
\end{array}$
Based on the above information,if operators receive $300 a week,how many operators should the agency hire?

Question

A government agency is having problems with personal telephone calls made during working hours.Because each minute of a personal call costs the agency $0.50 in wasted wages,it has decided to hire operators to monitor calls.The agency wants to hire the number of operators that will minimize the total cost of personal calls. $\begin{array}{c}
\begin{array}{c}
\text {Number of}\
\text {  operators}\
0\
1\
2\
3\
4\
5\
\end{array}
\begin{array}{c}
\text {Minutes of personal}\
\text {  calls(per week) }\
3900\
2300\
1300\
600\
100\
0\
\end{array}
\end{array}$
 Based on the above information,if operators receive $300 a week,how many operators should the agency hire?

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Hiring 3 operators minimizes the total cost. With 3 operators, the cost of personal calls (600 minutes * $0.50/minute = $300) plus the cost of operators (3 * $300 = $900) totals $1200. This is less than any other option when considering both the cost of wasted wages due to personal calls and the cost of hiring operators.

A Government Agency Is Having Problems with Personal Telephone Calls