Question

A 8-ounce box of dry pasta costs $0.40. A 12-ounce box of the same pasta costs $0.48. (a) What is the cost per ounce of each box of pasta? (b) How much does the educated consumer save by buying the larger box? (c) How much does the consumer save by buying 2 large boxes instead of 3 small boxes?

Answer 1

The cost per ounce of the 8-ounce box is $0.05 and the cost per ounce of the 12-ounce box is $0.04. The educated consumer saves $0.08 by buying the larger box. The consumer does not save by buying 2 large boxes instead of 3 small boxes.

Step-by-step explanation:

(a) To find the cost per ounce of each box of pasta, divide the cost by the number of ounces. For the 8-ounce box, the cost per ounce is $0.40 ÷ 8 = $0.05. For the 12-ounce box, the cost per ounce is $0.48 ÷ 12 = $0.04.

(b) To calculate the savings of buying the larger box, subtract the cost of the smaller box from the cost of the larger box. The savings is $0.48 - $0.40 = $0.08.

(c) To determine the savings of buying 2 large boxes instead of 3 small boxes, multiply the cost per ounce of the small box by the number of ounces in 3 small boxes. Then subtract the cost of 2 large boxes from the result. For example, if the cost per ounce of the small box is $0.05, and there are 8 ounces in 3 small boxes, the cost of the small boxes is $0.05 × 8 = $0.40. The savings is $0.40 - ($0.48 × 2) = $0.40 - $0.96 = -$0.56. Therefore, the consumer does not save by buying 2 large boxes instead of 3 small boxes.