Final answer:
The maximum membership money for the Ski club is obtained when they recruit 2 new members, yielding $171.60. They achieve this by setting up a dues structure that decreases the dues by $0.10 for each new member recruited.
Step-by-step explanation:
The school Ski club is trying to maximize the membership money with a plan that reduces the dues for every member by $0.10 for each new member recruited. Let's denote x as the number of new members. Initially, there are 20 members, so with the new members, there will be 20 + x members. The original dues are $8 per member, but they are reduced by $0.10 per new member; thus, the new dues will be $8 - $0.10x per member.
To find the maximum membership money, we need to express the total money, M, collected as a function of x:
M(x) = (20 + x) × ($8 - $0.10x)
Expanding the equation gives us:
M(x) = 160 + 8x - 2x²
This is a quadratic equation, and its graph is a parabola opening downwards, indicating that the maximum value of M occurs at the vertex of the parabola. The x-coordinate of the vertex is given by -b/(2a), where a is the coefficient of x² (which is -2 in this case) and b is the coefficient of x (which is 8).
The number of new members that will result in the maximum membership money is:
x = -8 / (2(-2)) = 2
Hence, the Ski club should recruit 2 new members to maximize the total money. Calculating the total dues at this point:
M(2) = (20 + 2) × ($8 - $0.10 × 2) = 22 × $7.80 = $171.60
This is the maximum amount of membership money the club can earn by restructuring the dues.