Question

Later, the teaching assistant in Nick’s physics course gives him some advice. "Based on past experience," the teaching assistant says, "working on 15 problems raises a student’s exam score by about the same amount as reading the textbook for 1 hour." For simplicity, assume students always cover the same number of pages during each hour they spend reading. Given this information, in order to use his 4 hours of study time to get the best exam score possible, how many hours should he have spent working on problems, and how many should he have spent reading?

Answer 1

3 hours working on problems, 1 hour reading

Explanation:

From the given information:

We learned that If Nick can attempt more than 15 problems in an hour, working on problems will helo and aid further his grade for that particular hour than reading would.

We know that the marginal gain for three hours is greater than 15. This implies that Nick would get better by spending 3 hours on problem-solving and the rest 1 hour on reading since the marginal gain for that an hour is one problem solved. Hence, it will be advisable to spend it on reading.