3. Biologists want to set up a station to test alligators in the lake for West N

Question

3. Biologists want to set up a station to test alligators in the lake for West Nile Virus. Suppose that the costs for such a station are $2,500 for setup costs and $3.00 to administer each test.

a. Write an expression that gives the total cost to test x animals.
b. You can find the average cost per animal by dividing total costs by number of animals. Write the expression that gives the average cost per animal.
c. Find the average cost per animal for 10 animals, 100 animals, and 1,000 animals.
d. As the number of animals tested increases, what happens to the average cost to test the animals? Would the average cost ever fall below $3.00? If so, identify a value that supports your answer. If not, explain how you know.
e. How many animals should be tested for the average cost to be $5.00 per animal?

Explanation / Answer

hopefully i understand this situation correctly. a) total cost = C= 2500+3x b) average cost per animal = A = C/x c) C/10, C/100, C/1000 d) as the number of animals (x) increases, the average cost (A) decreases. Since the total cost (C) will always be at least 2500 regardless of the amount of animals and x will have to be greater than zero, or the equation for average cost (C/x) will be undefined, then the average cost would not ever fall below $3

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse 3
• Subjects

---

---

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.