A school is preparing a trip for 400 students the company wh

A school is preparing a trip for 400 students. the company who is providing the transportation has 10 buses of 50 seats each and 8 buses of 40 seats, but only has 9 drivers available. The rental cost for a large bus is $800 and $600 for the small bus. Calculate how many buses of each type should be used fro the trip for the least possible cost.

Solution

A school is preparing a trip for 400 students. The company that is providing the transportation has 10 buses of 50 seats each and 8 buses of 40 seats, but only has 9 drivers are available. The rental cost for a large bus is $800 and $600 for the small bus.

The cost of taking a large bus on rent is $800 and it has 50 seats. The cost per student is 800/50 = 16. The cost of taking a small bus on rent is $600 and it has 40 seats. The cost per student is 600/40 = 15. To minimize the cost, as many small buses should be used as possible. All 8 small buses and one large bus can only accommodate 370 students. This leaves 30 students. Three of the smaller buses should be replaced with the larger buses.

The school should use 4 large buses and 5 small buses.