BCPC 208: QUANTITATIVE METHODS

ASSIGNMENT 2

1. Find an expression for the profit function given the demand function
2Q + P = 25
and the average cost function
AC = 32
Q
+ 5.
Find the values of Q for which the firm
(a) breaks even; (b) makes a loss of 432 units; (c) maximises profit.

2. Social media platforms rely heavily on user engagement to generate revenue through
advertising. Let's consider a social media app, Chatter, whose daily active users can be
modelled by the exponential function:
U (t ) = 2000e0.08t
where U (t ) is the number of daily active users at time t (days since launch)
(a) How many daily active users did Chatter have on the day it launched (t = 0)?
(b) At what rate is the number of daily active users growing each day? Explain your answer
in terms of percentage increase.
(c) It takes Chatter approximately 3 months (90 days) to reach 1 million daily active users.
Use the given function to find the value of t at which U(t) reaches 1,000,000.
(d) Chatter's marketing team wants to develop a strategy to reach 5 million daily active users
within the next year (365 days). Based on the current growth model, is this a realistic
target? Briefly explain your answer.

3. "SocialBuzz," a social media platform, experiences a growth in new user registrations. Their
monthly user base can be modelled by the logistic function:
U (t ) = 10, 000(1 − e−0.1t ),
where U(t) is the number of registered users at time t (months since launch)
(a) What is the maximum number of users SocialBuzz can expect according to the model?
Briefly explain why this occurs.
(b) How many users did SocialBuzz have at launch?
(c) It takes approximately how many months for SocialBuzz to reach 8,000 users?

4. “GreenGrocer,” a grocery delivery app, is experiencing rapid growth. They project their
customer base, measured in thousands, to follow a logistic growth pattern modelled by the
function:
C (t ) = 500 ,
1 + 9e−0.4t
where C(t) is the number of customers in thousands at time t (months since launch)
(a) How many customers did GreenGrocer have at launch?
(b) What is the maximum number of customers GreenGrocer can expect in the long run
according to the model? Briefly explain why this makes sense.
(c) Find the number of customers after 5 months.
(d) How long will it take for GreenGrocer to reach 200,000 customers?