If you appreciate our work, consider supporting us:
QUESTION:
Suppose that Eric is a diligent hard-working fourth-year college student. One Friday, he decides to start the day by working through 150 practice problems to study for the econometrics class. Using a table to track his progress throughout the day, he notices that as the hours pass, it takes him longer to solve the problems.
Time
Total Problems Solved
7:00 AM
0
8:00 AM
60
9:00 AM
105
10:00 AM
135
11:00 AM
150
Use the table to answer the following questions.
a) The marginal, or additional, gain from Alivia’s second hour spent working, from 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM, is _ problems
b) The marginal gain from Alivia’s fourth hour spent working, from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, is problems
Question 2
The following week, Alivia’s econometrics faculty advisor gives her some advice. In all their years of teaching they claim to observe that working on 22.5 multiple choice questions boosts a student’s test score by about the same amount as spending an hour reviewing lecture notes. For simplicity, assume students are able to review lecture notes at a constant pace during each hour spent studying.
Given this information, in order to use her 4 hours of time spent studying to get the highest possible test score, how many hours should she have spent solving multiple choice problems, and how many hours should she have spent reviewing lecture notes?
ANSWER:
a) 45 problems
b) 15 problems
Explanations
By 8:00 AM, Alivia has answered 60 problems. By 9:00 AM, Alivia has answered 105 problems. So the marginal, or additional, gain from her work between 8:00 AM and 9:00 AM is 105−60=45 problems.
By 10:00 AM, Alivia has answered 135 problems. By 11:00 AM, Alivia has answered 150 problems. So the marginal gain from the fourth hour, 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, is 150−135=15 problems.
Answer Question 2
The following week, Alivia’s econometrics faculty advisor gives her some advice. In all their years of teaching they claim to observe that working on 22.5 multiple choice questions boosts a student’s test score by about the same amount as spending an hour reviewing lecture notes. For simplicity, assume students are able to review lecture notes at a constant pace during each hour spent studying.
Given this information, in order to use her 4 hours of time spent studying to get the highest possible test score, how many hours should she have spent solving multiple choice problems, and how many hours should she have spent reviewing lecture notes?
