Modeling Costs for the General Store
1. Remember the form of a quadratic equation: ax2+bx+c
2. You will use: W=-.01x2+100x+c where (-.01x2+100x) represents the store's variable costs and c is the store's fixed costs.
3. So, W is the stores total monthly costs based on the number of items sold, x.
4. Think about what the variable and fixed costs might be for your fictitious storefront business - and be creative. Start by choosing a fixed cost, c, between $5,000 and $10,000, according to the following class chart:
5. My last name is Haggins so my fixed cost would be be between $5800-$6400
If your last name starts with the letter Choose a fixed cost between
A-E $5000-$5700
F-I $5800-$6400
J-L $6500-$7100
M-O $7200-$7800
P-R $7800-$8500
S-T $8600-$9200
U-Z $9300-$10,000
6. Post your chosen c value in your subject line, so your classmates can easily scan the discussion thread and try to avoid duplicating your c value. (Different c values make for more discussion.)
7. Your monthly cost is then, W = -.01x^2+100x+c.
8. Substitute the c value chosen in the previous step to complete your unique equation pblackicting your monthly costs.
9. Next, choose two values of x (number of items sold) between 100 and 200. Again, try to choose different values from classmates.
10. Plug these values into your model for W and evaluate the monthly business costs given that sales volume.
11. Discuss results and alternate business decisions.