1. Marketing MATH MONDAY

2. Marketing Math Monday
1.  Mary buys a car from a mean salesman who charges her 12% over the original price of a $15,000 car. Luke buys the same car from a much nicer salesman who gives him an 8% discount off of the original price. How much more does Mary spend on the car than Luke does?

3. Marketing Math Monday Correct answer: $3000 Explanation:
Correct answer:
$3000
Explanation: 
12% of 15,000 is 0.12 * 15,000 = 1800.
8% of 15,000 is 0.08 * 15,000 = 1200; therefore in total, Mary spent = $3000 more.

4. Marketing Math Monday
2.  Manufacturer X has a base monthly operating cost of $30,000.  It makes only one product, which costs $5 per piece in addition to the base operational costs for the plant.  These products are each sold for $15 a piece.  How many products must the company sell in order to break even in any given month?

5. Marketing Math Monday Correct answer: 3,000 Explanation:
Begin by translating your problem into an equation.  What we want to ascertain is the situation when the profit equals exactly 0.  The profit and loss for a given month can be summarized by the following equation:
(Total product revenue) - (Base operating costs) - (Individual costs for products) = 0
Given our data, we can rewrite this:
15 * x - 30, * x = 0
Combine like terms:
10 * x - 30,000 = 0
Isolate x:
10 * x = 30,000; x = 3,000.
Therefore, the manufacturer must sell at least 3,000 items per month in order to "break even."