ACT Math : Arithmetic

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for ACT Math

varsity tutors app store varsity tutors android store varsity tutors ibooks store

Example Questions

Example Question #241 : Arithmetic

A jewelry designer bought a booth at a local craft fair.  She paid $160 for the booth rental for the day.  Her necklaces cost $10 to make and she sells them for $50 apiece.  If she wants to make at least $1000 profit for the day, how many necklaces must she sell?

Possible Answers:

24

18

29

20

22

Correct answer:

29

Explanation:

Profit on Necklace = Price – Cost = $50 – $10 = $40

Total Profit = # of Necklaces Sold * $40 – Booth Rental Rate

$1000 Profit = # of Necklaces * $40 – $160                          

$1160 = # of Necklaces * $40

# Necklaces = 29

Example Question #143 : Percentage

A law firm earned $2,000,000 this year in fees.  If the firm’s annual operating costs are $1,250,000, what is their profit this year?

Possible Answers:

$750,000

$2,000,000

$1,000,000

$250,000

$1,250,000

Correct answer:

$750,000

Explanation:

Profit = Total Fees – Operating Costs = $2,000,000 – $1,250,000 = $750,000

Example Question #1 : How To Find Amount Of Profit

Max bought a book for $10. If he later sold the book at a 25% profit. How much money in total did he receive from the sale of the book?

 

Possible Answers:

$10

$12.50

$7.50

$15

Correct answer:

$12.50

Explanation:

If the book is sold at a profit we know that the sale price is more than what he bought it for.  25% of $10 is $2.50. Therefore the sale price is $10 + $2.50 which is $12.50. It could also be seen as $10 X 1.25 =$12.50

 

Example Question #3 : Profit Margin

Sam was helping his school raise funds to buy books for the library.  He bought small paper pads for $0.75 and sold them for $2.00.  What was the percent mark-up, rounded to the nearest whole number?

Possible Answers:

None of the answers are correct

150%

66%

167%

75%

Correct answer:

167%

Explanation:

$ Mark-Up = $ New Price – $ Original Price

% Mark-Up = $ Mark-Up ÷ $ Original Price

% Mark-Up = (2.00 – 0.75) ÷ 0.75 = 1.67 or 167 %

Example Question #1 : How To Find Amount Of Profit

Jenny has two jobs.  The first is an office job salaried at $52,000 per year, so she makes the same amount of money every week, no matter how many hours she works.  The second is a bartending job.  She works 6 hours a night, 2 nights a week.  She earns $3.50 per hour plus tips.  If she earned $450 in tips this week, what is the total amount of money she made this week?

Possible Answers:

$1,021

$1,450

$1,492

$1,000

$1,480

Correct answer:

$1,492

Explanation:

Salaried job:

$52,000 / year

1 year = 52 weeks

Therefore: $52,000 / 52 weeks = $1,000.00 per week

Bartending job:

6 hours x $3.50 per hour x 2 nights per week = $42.00

Total Earned = Salaried + Bartending + Tips

= $1,000.00 + $42.00 + $450 = $1,492

Example Question #3 : How To Find Amount Of Profit

A chair company produces 5,000 luxury chairs per year.  Each chair requires $200 in wood and other materials to build.  It also requires 3 hours of work by a craftsman, who earns $30 per hour.  If the company wants to earn $3 million dollars in profit this year, how much should each chair cost?

Possible Answers:

$750

$900

$800

$850

$890

Correct answer:

$890

Explanation:

Total cost of chair = materials + labor = $200 + (3 hours) ($30/hour) = $290

Total cost for 5000 chairs = $290 x 5,000 = $1,450,000

Profit = (5000) x Price per chair – Cost of Chairs

$3,000,000 = (5000) x Price per chair – $1,450,000

$4,450,000 = (5000) x Price per chair

Price per chair = $4,450,000 / 5,000 = $890

Example Question #242 : Arithmetic

A company made \(\displaystyle \$400,000\) in sales last year.  The company has four employees.  Two of the employees earn \(\displaystyle \$50,000\) per year, and the other two employees earn \(\displaystyle \$70,000\) per year.

In addition to employee salaries, the company also pays \(\displaystyle \$5,000\) a month in rent for its office space and \(\displaystyle \$4,000\) per month in general expenses.

What was the company's profit last year?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle \$52,000\)

\(\displaystyle \$53,000\)

\(\displaystyle \$400,000\)

\(\displaystyle \$348,000\)

\(\displaystyle \$38,000\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle \$52,000\)

Explanation:

Annual profit = Total Annual Sales – Total Annual Expenses

Total Annual Sales = $400,000

Total Annual Expenses = Salaries + Rent + Expenses

2 employees @ $50,000 = $100,000

2 employees @ $70,000 = $140,000

12 months of rent @ $5,000 = $60,000

12 months of expenses @ $4,000 = $48,000

Total Annual Expenses = $348,000

Annual profit = $400,000– $348,000 = $52,000

Example Question #243 : Arithmetic

Madame buys 5 dozen eggs at 10 cents per egg. She then sells each dozen for 2 dollars. What is her profit margin?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 60\%\)

\(\displaystyle 40\%\)

\(\displaystyle 25\%\)

\(\displaystyle 100\%\)

\(\displaystyle 66\%\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 40\%\)

Explanation:

Profit margin is equal to profit / revenue. She bought the eggs for (5)(12)(0.1) = $6 total. She is selling the eggs for (5)(2)=$10 total.

The profit margin is equal to \(\displaystyle \frac{(10-6)}{10}\) or \(\displaystyle 40\%\)

Example Question #11 : How To Find Amount Of Profit

A bakery sells cupcakes for \(\displaystyle \$12.00\) per dozen. If it costs \(\displaystyle \$4.50\) to make each dozen, how much profit would the bakery earn from selling \(\displaystyle 10\) dozen cupcakes?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle \$125.00\)

\(\displaystyle \$120.00\)

\(\displaystyle \$75.00\)

\(\displaystyle \$96.00\)

\(\displaystyle \$105.00\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle \$75.00\)

Explanation:

The profit that is made is the difference between the amount earned and the amount spent. In this instance, it costs \(\displaystyle \$4.50\) to make a dozen cupcakes, but the bakery charges \(\displaystyle \$12.00\) per dozen.

To find the profit for one dozen cupcakes:

\(\displaystyle \$12-\$4.50 = \$7.50\)

To find the profit for ten dozen cupcakes:

\(\displaystyle \$7.50\cdot 10 = \$75.00\)

Example Question #153 : Percentage

It costs a retail store \(\displaystyle \$3.25\) to purchase a bow tie. If this store sells the bow tie for \(\displaystyle \$15.50\), what is its profit percentage? Round to the nearest hundredth.

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 4.77\%\)

\(\displaystyle 79.03\%\)

\(\displaystyle 376.92\%\)

\(\displaystyle 476.92\%\)

\(\displaystyle 3.77\%\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 376.92\%\)

Explanation:

The profit percentage is really just a matter of percent change. We are changing from \(\displaystyle 3.25\) to \(\displaystyle 15.50\). This is easily computed as:

\(\displaystyle \frac{15.5-3.25}{3.25}=3.76923076923077...\)

This is the same as \(\displaystyle 376.92\%\)!

Learning Tools by Varsity Tutors