a. A textbook company discovered that the profit made from selling its books is given by y = \(\frac{x^2}{8}\) + 5x, where x is the number of textbooks sold...

Assessment: WAEC SSCE - General Mathematics - 2018 (Essay) Subject: General Mathematics

Question 1 Report

a. A textbook company discovered that the profit made from selling its books is given by y = \(\frac{x^2}{8}\) + 5x, where x is the number of textbooks sold (in thousands) and y is the corresponding profit (in Ghana Cedis). If the company made a profit of GH₵ 20,000.00

i. form a quadratic equation in x;

ii. (using the quadratic formula, find, correct to the nearest whole number, the number of textbooks sold to make the profit.

b. The angle of elevation of the top T of a tree from a point P on the same ground level as the foot Q of a tree is 28\(^o\). A bird perched at a point R, halfway up the tree.

i. Represent the information in a diagram.

ii. Calculate, correct to the nearest degree, the angle of elevation of R from P.

Answer Details

(a)(i) With profit \(y = 20000\):

\[\frac{x^2}{8} + 5x = 20000 \;\;(\times 8) \Rightarrow x^2 + 40x - 160000 = 0\]

(a)(ii) Quadratic formula:

\[x = \frac{-40 \pm \sqrt{40^2 + 4(160000)}}{2} = \frac{-40 \pm \sqrt{641600}}{2} = \frac{-40 \pm 801.0}{2}\]

Taking the positive root: \(x = \dfrac{761.0}{2} \approx 380\) (in thousands), i.e. about \(380{,}000\) textbooks.

(b)(i) Diagram: vertical tree \(TQ\) with P on the ground so that \(\angle TPQ = 28^{\circ}\); R is the midpoint of \(TQ\).

(b)(ii) Let \(PQ = d\). Then \(TQ = d\tan 28^{\circ}\) and \(RQ = \tfrac{1}{2}TQ = \tfrac{1}{2}d\tan 28^{\circ}\).

\[\tan(\angle RPQ) = \frac{RQ}{PQ} = \tfrac{1}{2}\tan 28^{\circ} = \tfrac{1}{2}(0.5317) = 0.2659\] \[\angle RPQ = \tan^{-1}(0.2659) \approx 15^{\circ}\]

Download The App On Google Playstore

Everything you need to excel in your exams

Green Bridge CBT Mobile App
Personalized AI Learning Chat Assistant
200,000+ Exam Questions Across IGCSE, JAMB, WAEC & NECO
Over 3,900 Lesson Notes
Offline Support - Learn Anytime, Anywhere
Green Bridge Timetable
Literature Summaries & Potential Questions
Track Your Performance & Progress
In-depth Explanations for Comprehensive Learning