Problem

Submit test The equation below is an approximation to the total profit (in thousands of dollars) from the sale of $\mathrm{x}$ hundred thousand tires. Find the number of tires that must be sold to maximize profit. $P(x)=-x^{3}+\frac{27}{2} x^{2}-60 x+100, x \geq 5$ A. 450,000 B. 550,000 C. 500,000 D. 400,000

Solution

Step 1 :Find the derivative of the function \(P(x)=-x^{3}+\frac{27}{2} x^{2}-60 x+100\), which is \(P'(x)=-3x^{2}+27x-60\).

Step 2 :Set \(P'(x)\) equal to zero to get the equation \(-3x^{2}+27x-60=0\).

Step 3 :Simplify this equation by dividing all terms by -3, which gives \(x^{2}-9x+20=0\).

Step 4 :Factor the equation to get \((x-4)(x-5)=0\).

Step 5 :Setting each factor equal to zero gives \(x=4\) and \(x=5\).

Step 6 :Discard \(x=4\) because the problem states that \(x \geq 5\).

Step 7 :Therefore, the number of tires that must be sold to maximize profit is \(x=5\) hundred thousand, or 500,000 tires.

Step 8 :Take the second derivative of \(P(x)\), which is \(P''(x)=-6x+27\).

Step 9 :Substitute \(x=5\) into \(P''(x)\) to get \(-6*5+27=-3\), which is less than zero, confirming that \(x=5\) is a maximum point of the function.

Step 10 :\(\boxed{500,000}\) is the number of tires that must be sold to maximize profit.

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Source: https://solvelyapp.com/problems/8CNP1aRmt5/

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