Frank owns an apple farm and plans to spend 4 hours today picking apples. The number of apples he can pick per hour depends on the total number of hours he spends working in either the east orchard or the west orchard in the manner shown in the table below. How should Frank divide his time between the east and the west orchard?

Question

Frank owns an apple farm and plans to spend 4 hours today picking apples. The number of apples he can pick per hour depends on the total number of hours he spends working in either the east orchard or the west orchard in the manner shown in the table below.  How should Frank divide his time between the east and the west orchard?

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The marginal cost to Frank of spending an additional hour in the east orchard is always 10 apples. His marginal benefit of spending the first hour in the west orchard is 40 apples; his marginal benefit of the 2^nd hour is 24 apples (= (32 F1F1F1S1F1F1F10 2) - 40); his marginal benefit of the 3^rd hour is 11 apples (= (25 F1F1F1S1F1F1F10 3) - (32 F1F1F1S1F1F1F10 2)); and his marginal benefit of the 4^th hour is 5 apples (= (20 F1F1F1S1F1F1F10 4) - (25 F1F1F1S1F1F1F10 3)). So the marginal benefit of the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd hour in the east orchard is greater than its marginal cost. But, the marginal benefit of the 4^th hour is less than its marginal cost.

Frank Owns an Apple Farm and Plans to Spend 4