The Times-Picayune is searching for an ideal spotting station for the morning paper. Neighborhoods, their location on an XY grid of the city, and morning volume are shown in the table. What is the location that will minimize the transportation costs for the newspaper? $$\begin{array} { | l | c | c | c | }
\hline { \text { Customer } } & \text { Annual Volume } & \text { X-Coordinate } & \text { Y-Coordinate } \
\hline \text { Florida } & 7 & 3 & 7 \
\hline \text { Desire } & 39 & 7 & 5 \
\hline \text { Lafitte } & 245 & 1 & 3 \
\hline \text { Iberville } & 116 & 2 & 5 \
\hline \text { Guste } & 55 & 1 & 6 \
\hline \text { CJ Peete } & 284 & 1 & 4 \
\hline
\end{array}$$
A)Near (3.0, 4.5)
B)Near (4.5, 5.0)
C)Near (2.5, 2.5)
D)Near (1.5, 4.0)

Question

The Times-Picayune is searching for an ideal spotting station for the morning paper. Neighborhoods, their location on an XY grid of the city, and morning volume are shown in the table. What is the location that will minimize the transportation costs for the newspaper? $$\begin{array} { | l | c | c | c | } 
\hline { \text { Customer } } & \text { Annual Volume } & \text { X-Coordinate } & \text { Y-Coordinate } \
\hline \text { Florida } & 7 & 3 & 7 \
\hline \text { Desire } & 39 & 7 & 5 \
\hline \text { Lafitte } & 245 & 1 & 3 \
\hline \text { Iberville } & 116 & 2 & 5 \
\hline \text { Guste } & 55 & 1 & 6 \
\hline \text { CJ Peete } & 284 & 1 & 4 \
\hline
\end{array}$$
A)Near (3.0, 4.5)
B)Near (4.5, 5.0)
C)Near (2.5, 2.5)
D)Near (1.5, 4.0)

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

To minimize transportation costs, the ideal location is the weighted average of the coordinates based on the annual volume. Calculating the weighted average for both X and Y coordinates using the formula $\frac{\sum (volume \times coordinate)}{\sum volume}$ gives us the coordinates close to (1.5, 4.0).

The Times-Picayune Is Searching for an Ideal Spotting Station for the Morning