A certain company's main source of income is selling socks. The company's annual profit (in millions of dollars) as a function of the price of a pair of socks (in dollars) is modeled by: P(x)=−3(x−5)2+12 What sock price should the company set to earn a maximum profit?
Q. A certain company's main source of income is selling socks. The company's annual profit (in millions of dollars) as a function of the price of a pair of socks (in dollars) is modeled by: P(x)=−3(x−5)2+12 What sock price should the company set to earn a maximum profit?
Identify profit function: Identify the profit function and recognize that it is a quadratic function in the form P(x)=−3(x−5)2+12, which represents a parabola opening downwards.
Find maximum profit: Understand that the maximum profit for a parabola that opens downwards occurs at the vertex of the parabola.
Calculate vertex of parabola: Calculate the vertex of the parabola. Since the profit function is in vertex form P(x)=a(x−h)2+k, where (h,k) is the vertex, we can see that h=5 and k=12.
Determine optimal price: Conclude that the maximum profit occurs when x=5, which means the company should set the price of a pair of socks to $5 to earn the maximum profit.