A dentist's office,which wants to serve the maximum number of patients given a fixed payroll,currently has two dentists and four dental hygienists.Dentists earn $60,000 a year and hygienists earn $15,000 a year.If the office is hiring the optimal combination of dentists and hygienists,and the last dentist hired served 120 additional patients,how many patients will the last hygienist hired add?
A)30
B)60
C)120
D)240

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Given the salary ratio of dentists to hygienists is 4:1 ($60,000:$15,000), and assuming the office is hiring the optimal combination of staff to serve the maximum number of patients, the marginal productivity (additional patients served) should be proportional to their salaries. Since the last dentist served 120 additional patients and costs 4 times as much as a hygienist, the last hygienist hired would add 1/4 of that number, which is 30 patients.

A Dentist's Office,which Wants to Serve the Maximum Number of Patients