Ethem S. answered 10/14/19
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A farmer is going to divide her 50 acre farm between two crops.
Let's say x is the acres for crop A and y the acres for crop B. The total acres is 50:
x + y = 50
Or
x = 50 - y
If crop B brings in a profit of $110 per acre, and crop A brings in a profit of $80 per acre, how many acres of each crop should the farmer plant to maximize her profit?
Profit is
P = y*110 + x*80
Let's substitute, x = 50 - y to find P in terms of y only
P = 110*y + 80*(50-y)
P = 110*y + 4000 - 80*y
P = 30*y + 4000
This equation says that the more crop B she plants, the more profit she will make. But, there is another constraint:
Seed for crop A costs $25 per acre. Seed for crop B costs $50 per acre. The farmer can spend at most $1500 on seed.
Cost of seeds will be:
x*25 + y*50
And this needs to be less then or equal to $1500
x*25 + y*50 <= 1500
Let's substitute x = 50 - y in this inequality
25*(50 - y) + 50*y <= 1500
1250 - 25*y + 50*y <= 1500 (combine y terms and add -1250 to both sides)
25*y <= 250 (divide both sides by 25)
y <= 10
So, y can be at most 10. Since P is increases as y increases (P = 30*y + 4000), y must be 10 or 10 acres for crop B
x = 50 - y = 50 -10 = 40 or 40 acres for crop A
Profit will be
P = 110*10 + 80*40 = 1100 + 3200 = $4300