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A certain car dealership sells only Full-size and Mid-size cars. One of its sales representatives receives an annual salary of $15,000. He also receives a commission of $800 for each full size car he sells and $500 for each midsize car he sells. What is the least number of cars he must sell in a year to receive total annual earnings of exactly $25,000?
A) 7
B) 12
C) 13
D) 14
E) 17
He gets $15,000 in salary, so to earn $25,000, he needs $10,000 in sales.
Focus on the $800 cars. In order to
minimize the total number of cars, we should
maximize the number of more expensive full size cars, F -- we need fewer of them to get a high total dollar amount.
Another reason to focus in the $800 cars: divisibility. $800 and $500 are awkward together. We need the $800 car number to make a round total that is divisible by $500 for medium cars, M.
He needs exactly $10,000 from commissions.
To be a "round" number divisible by $500, $800 must be multiplied by 5, 10, or 15
$800 * 5F = $4,000
$6,000 left
$6,000/$500 per M = 12M
Total cars: 17
$800 * 10F = $8,000
$2,000 left
$2,000/$500 per M = 4M
Total cars: 14
The next number of $800F that is round is 15, which is a
greater number of cars than the 14 we just calculated. Reject.
Least number of cars: 14
10 are F
4 are M
Answer D