BARBADOS COMMUNITY COLLEGE

PRACTICAL MATHEMATICS

Worksheet #4

Calculation of wages/salaries, hire purchase, bills, real income and value for money

1. A girl works a basic week of 40 hours and her basic rate is $6.25 per hour. Calculate her basic wage for the
week.

2. A secretary works a 35-hour week for which she is paid $262.50. If in a particular week she works 6 hours
overtime on Saturdays which is paid for at time- and - a- half, and 4 hours overtime on Sunday which is paid
for at double-time, calculate her gross wage for that week.

3. In a factory all employees work a basic week of 38 hours. Any overtime worked during weekdays is paid for at
time-and-a-half. Overtime worked on Saturday is paid for at double-time, whilst on Sunday it is paid for at
triple time. If the basic rate is $8.96 per hour, find the gross wage of a man who worked 15 hours overtime
from Monday to Friday, 3 hours overtime on Saturday and 2 hours overtime on Sunday.

4. In a sugar Factory all employees work a basic week of 40 hours. Any overtime worked during weekdays is paid
for at time-and-a-quarter. Overtime worked on Saturday is paid for at time-and-a-half, whilst on Sunday it is
paid for at double-time. If the basic rate is $14.60 per hour and a man worked 15 hours overtime during
weekdays, 6 hours overtime on Saturday and 5 hours overtime on Sunday, calculate:
a) his basic wage
b) his overtime wage
c) his gross wage for the week

5. A man is paid $9.60 per hour for a 40-hour week and he is paid at time-and-a-half for overtime. Find how
many hours of overtime he worked when his wage for a certain week was $528.00.

6. At a construction firm the basic week is 40 hours. During a particular week Julie earned a gross wage of
$491.15, but $156.75 was for overtime.
a) Calculate Julie’s basic rate of payment
b) If overtime was paid for at time-and-a-quarter, find how many hours Julie worked overtime.

7. A sales girl is paid a basic wage of $140 per week. In addition she is paid a commission of 5% on the value
of goods she sells. How much commission will she be paid on sales amounting to $1,525 and what is her
gross wage for the week?

8. A sales man is paid a basic wage of $225 per week. In addition he is paid a commission of 3% on the value
of goods he sells above $5 500. How much commission will he be paid on sales amounting to $12 500 and
what are his earnings for that week?

9. A table which costs $2,558.20 cash may be bought on hire purchase. Hire purchase terms are as follows:
deposit $100 and make 72 monthly payments of $50. Calculate the hire purchase price.

10. A Video which has a cash price of $3,000 may be bought on hire purchase. To obtain the Video on hire
purchase, a deposit of 10% of the cash price is made and 30 monthly installments of $150.50 each are
required.
Calculate:
a) Hire purchase price of the video
b) The difference between the cash price and the hire purchase price as a percentage of the cash price.

11. A living room suite can be bought on hire purchase by making a deposit of 15% on the cash price which is
$2,975. Interest of 20% is then charged on the outstanding balance. The balance is paid in 12 monthly
installments. Calculate for the living room suite:

a) The deposit
b) The hire purchase price
c) The amount of each installment

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12. A housewife purchased a television with a cash price of $3000 under hire purchase term. She paid an initial
deposit of 20% of the cash price and interest of 15% per annum on the outstanding balance is charged. The
amount payable is paid in 12 monthly instalments. Calculate for the Television set:

(i) The hire purchase price

(ii) The amount of each instalment

(iii) The difference between the cash price and the hire purchase price

(iv) The difference as a percentage of the cash price.

13. Charges for electricity in a Caricom country are made up of a fixed fuel charge of 33¢ per kWh and an
energy charge computed under 3 schemes as follows:

scheme A Homes 15¢ per kWh

scheme B Schools 20¢ per kWh
scheme C Business places 30¢ per kWh
The meter reading of a certain school reads as follows:

Meter Reading (kWh) KWh Scheme Energy Fuel

Present Previous Used Charge Charge
44231 31568 B

Calculate:
a) the number of kWh used
b) the energy charge
c) the fuel charge
d) the total amount the school had to pay for electricity used

14. Calculate Mr. Bourne’s monthly ‘Tele-Network’ Bill based on the following information.

Duration Cost for 1st three Cost per additional minute

(mins) minutes or less
Paris 8 $10.00 $3.80
Haiti 5 $6.00 $2.50
Guadeloupe 2 $3.00 $0.80

Basic monthly $35

Unlimited Internet service $69
Vat 15%

15. In January Mr. Clarke’s telephone bill was calculated on the following information:

Long distance Duration of Fixed charge Charge per

calls to call in for 3 minutes additional minute
minutes or less
Cayman Islands 27 $17.65 $3.90
New York 19 $15.40 $5.35
Paris 2 $19.20 $6.50

Monthly rental for telephone = $25.50

Rebate received on rental for three weeks
when the telephone was not working = $12.00

Calculate Mr. Clarke’s actual telephone

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16. Use the information below to compute Mr. Clarke’s Electricity bill for the month under consideration.

METER READINGS ENERGY CHARGE PER kwh

PREVIOUS PRESENT 1st 200 kwh 201-1000 kwh OVER 1000

kwh
6 923.50 9 417.60 13.4 cents 20.2 cents 22 cents

FUEL CHARGE 14.35 cents per kwh

METER RENTAL $ 3.75 per month
Due Date /Discount 09-01-31 - 5 % discount for early payment

In your calculation , show the separate components such as Energy charge, Fuel charge etc. Assume that Mr.
Clarke pays his bill on January 31, 2009.

17. The table below shows Lana’s annual income and the Retail Price Index (RPI) series over a five year
period.

YEAR ANNUAL INCOME ($) R.P.I REAL INCOME ($)

1 50,000 100 50,000

2 54,000 106

3 57,000 109

4 59,000 113

5 61,000 116

Using year 1 as the base year

(i) Calculate the real income for years 2 to 5

(ii) Explain one limitation of the Retail price index

(iii) Identify one use of the Retail price index

(iv) Calculate the percentage rise in the RPI figures between years 3 and 5

18. The table below shows Veronica’s annual income and her real income as well as the Retail Price index
(RPI) series for a 5 year period.

Year Annual Income $ RPI Real Income $

1 40,000 100 40,000
2 45,000 104 43,269.23
3 48,000 109
4 51,000 115
5 44,880.00

i. Define the term real income

ii. Using Year 1 as the base year, calculate Veronica’s real income for years 3 and 4.

iii. In year 5 Veronica received a 10% increase in her annual salary due to back pay. Calculate
Veronica’s annual income for year 5 and hence, calculate the retail price index for year 5.

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19. JJ’s Enterprises is selling ‘wash clean’ powdered laundry detergent available in two sizes, giant and
standard. The giant size cost $20.50 and the standard size cost $9.00.

20cm
12cm
30cm
8cm 20cm 8cm

GIANT STANDARD

i How many of the standard size packets will it take to fill the giant packet?

Ii Determine which packet will be a better value for your money. (Show the calculations involved in
your determination.)

20. A stationery sells ink for a printer as follows:

Option A
Nine 10 oz. bottles of ink for $264

Option B
Six 14 oz. bottles of ink for $280
Assuming the ink in both options is of the same quality, determine which option gives better value for
money.