The drama club is printing t-shirts for its members. The printing company charges a certain amount for each shirt plus a setup fee of $40. There are 21 students in the drama club.
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
Sure! To provide a complete answer, I need to clarify the problem and what exactly you’re asking for. The problem states:
- The drama club is printing t-shirts.
- The printing company charges a certain amount per shirt plus a setup fee of $40.
- There are 21 students in the drama club.
Typically, questions like this ask for:
- The total cost for printing 21 shirts.
- Or writing an expression or equation for the total cost.
- Or maybe finding the cost per shirt if given total cost.
Since the problem doesn’t specify the per-shirt cost or what exactly you want to find, I’ll cover the general explanation and how to approach this kind of problem.
Let’s define variables:
- Let c = the cost to print one shirt (in dollars).
- The setup fee is $40 (a fixed cost, paid once regardless of number of shirts).
- Number of shirts = 21.
Total cost formula:
The total cost (T) to print the shirts is the sum of:
- The setup fee ($40), plus
- The cost of printing each shirt multiplied by the number of shirts (21 × c).
Thus, T=40+21cT = 40 + 21c
Explanation in detail:
When printing t-shirts or any custom items, companies often charge a fixed setup fee to cover the initial costs of preparing the printing machines, designing, or customizing the order. This fee is independent of the number of shirts printed.
Then, they charge a per-item cost that covers materials and labor for each individual shirt.
So, if the printing company charges, say, $7 per shirt, the total cost for 21 shirts would be: T=40+21×7=40+147=187 dollarsT = 40 + 21 \times 7 = 40 + 147 = 187 \text{ dollars}
The $40 setup fee stays the same no matter how many shirts you order. This means if you ordered only one shirt, the total cost would be $40 + $7 = $47. If you ordered 100 shirts, it would be $40 + (100 × $7) = $740.
Why use this formula?
This kind of linear expression helps you:
- Calculate the total cost for any number of shirts.
- Understand the relationship between fixed costs and variable costs.
- Make cost comparisons or budgeting easier.
Summary:
- The total cost is a fixed setup fee + variable cost per shirt.
- The general equation is T = 40 + 21c.
- If you know the cost per shirt, multiply it by 21 and add 40 to find the total cost.
- This model applies to many real-world business pricing problems where fixed and variable costs combine.
If you have the cost per shirt or want help calculating total cost for a given per-shirt price, just let me know!