1. Susan decides to take a job as a transcriptionist so that she can work part-time from

home. To get started, she has to buy a computer, headphones, and some special

software. The equipment and software together cost her $1000. The company pays

her $0.004 per word, and Susan can type 90 words per minute.

a. How many hours must Susan work to break even, that is, to make enough to

cover her $1000 start-up cost?

b. If Susan works 4 hours a day, 3 days a week, how much will she earn in a

month?

a) About 46.3 hours

b) About $1036.80

Step-by-step explanation:

a)

Break even means to make enough to cover her costs.

Given her cost is 1000, we need to find how many hours she will need to cover this up.

In 1 minute, she can type 90 words, that would pay her:

0.004 per word for 90 words = 0.004 * 90 = $0.36 per minute

Susan makes $0.36 per minute, so the amount of time (in minutes) it will take her to make $1000, is:

1000/0.36 = 2777.78 minutes

Converting that to hours, we divide by 60,

2777.78/60 = 46.3 hours

b)

4 hours per day for 3 days = 4 * 3 = 12 hours (per week)

Let there be 4 weeks in a month, so

12 hours per week * 4 = 48 hours per month

She will work 48 hours per month.

Given 90 words per minute, in 1 hour, she can type:

60 minutes * 90 = 5400 words per hour

In 48 hours, she can type:

5400 words per hour * 48 hours = 259,200 words

That would pay her:

0.004 per word for 259,200 words = 0.004 * 259,200 = $1036.80