Question

The table below shows the earnings, in thousands of dollars, for three different commissioned employees.

Employee #1
$2,000 + 3% on all sales
Employee #2
7% on all sales
Employee #3
5% on the first $40,000 + 8% on anything over $40,000
December
4.4
5.6
5.2
January
3.5
3.85
3.6
February
4.7
4.9
4.4

Which employee did not have the same dollar amount in sales for the month of February as the other two employees?
a.
Employee #1.
b.
Employee #2
c.
Employee #3
d.
They each had the same dollar amount in sales.

Answer 1

Let S be sales in thousands of dollars.

Employee 1: 4.7 = 2 + 0.03S → 0.03S = 2.7 → S = 90 (i.e. $90,000).

Employee 2: 4.9 = 0.07S → S = 4.9/0.07 = 70 (i.e. $70,000).

Employee 3: For S>40, E = 0.08S − 1.2. So 4.4 = 0.08S − 1.2 → 0.08S = 5.6 → S = 70 (i.e. $70,000).

Employees 2 and 3 had the same sales ($70,000); Employee 1 did not.

Answer: a. Employee #1.