Real-Life Math -- Solution
1. How much will you charge the school?
120
miles x $0.30 per mile = $36
You'll charge $36 for transportation.
500
CDs x $5 per CD = $2,500
You'll charge $2,500 for the CDs.
$0.075
per song x 7 songs per CD x 500 CDs = $262.50
You'll charge
$262.50 for the mechanical rights fees.
Total = 36 + 2,500 + 262.50
Total
= $2,798.50
Your total bill will come to $2,798.50.
2.
How many CDs will they need to sell to break even?
$2,798.50
/ $10 per copy = 279.85
They need to sell 280 CDs to break even.
After that, every CD sold earns them $10 profit.
3. How
much money will the band raise if they sell all 500 CDs?
500
x $10 = $5,000
They will earn a gross profit of $5,000.
$5,000
- $2,798.50 = $2,201.50
If they sell all 500 CDs, they'll earn
a net profit of $2,201.50. Not too shabby!
Recording
engineers use math for billing customers. They also use math when working
with some of the recording equipment in their studios. The many pieces of
highly technological equipment are worth hundreds of the thousands of dollars.
"You
definitely have to have basic knowledge of math and electronics," says recording
engineer Jason Wright. "You have to fix circuits, so you have to know mathematics
as it applies to electric circuits, resistance, Ohm's law, basic physics
-- stuff like that."
When recording engineers make adjustments to things
like sound levels, they often use simple formulas. For example, to increase
your sound pressure level by two, you have to know how much to increase your
amplification power by.
"There are very simple, basic formulas that
you have to use," Wright says, "but after doing it for a couple years it's
sort of second nature."