Real-Life Math -- Solution
You're a butcher -- you take your goulash seriously. And you want
this new customer to come back, so you try to help her out with the metric
conversions.
Ground Beef
At $4.89 per pound
At
20 percent off:
4.89 x 0.20 = 0.98
That
means 98 cents off per pound, or $3.91 per pound. She'd like 2 kilograms,
so:
2 x 2.2 = 4.4 pounds of ground beef
4.4
x 3.91 = $17.20
Beef
At $6.10 per pound
And
she needs 1 kilogram:
2.2 x 1 = 2.2 pounds of beef
2.2
x 6.10 = $13.42
Chicken
At $4.70 per
pound
And she needs half a kilogram:
2.2 x 0.5 = 1.1
1.1
x 4.70 = $5.17
So this woman's total bill comes to: 17.20
+ 13.42 + 5.17 = $35.79
She's impressed that you helped
her out and brings you her goulash recipe when she comes in next week.
Should
you be prepared to work with math as a butcher?
"At the retail level,
yes. You may need to calculate pricing margins, cost analysis and profitability,"
says Ron Smith, professor of meat studies.