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other than gas, a gas station sells on average 12 coffees fo

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by alanforde800Maximus » Sun Oct 16, 2016 8:25 pm
other than gas, a gas station sells on average 12 coffees for $1.25 each, 3 candy bars for 90 cents each, and other products worth $15 every hour. If the gas station has 30 customers an hour and each customer purchases exactly one item, what are its average sales, excluding gas, per customer?

a) $1.09
b) $1.25
c) $1.40
d) $32.70
e) $40.00

Please assist with above problem.
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Source: — Problem Solving |

by [email protected] » Mon Oct 17, 2016 9:47 am
Hi alanforde800Maximus,

This question is just a big 'Weighted Average' prompt. Based on how the answer choices are 'spread out' though, you can actually avoid most of the calculations entirely.

We're told that there are 30 customers who each purchased 1 item. The list of items is:
12 coffees ($1.25 each)
3 candy bars ($0.90 each)
Some other products (totaling $15)

We're asked for the average price of these items.

Since there are 30 customers, then there must be 30 total items sold. There are 12 coffees and 3 candy bars, so there must be 15 other items that total $15. Thus, the list becomes...

12 coffees ($1.25 each)
3 candy bars ($0.90 each)
15 other items ($1 each)

The most expensive items are the coffees (at $1.25 each), but all of the other items cost LESS than that, so the average of all the items must be LESS than $1.25. There's only one answer that fits...

Final Answer: A

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