Working out cost problem

[jambo2015]

Dear Maths Forum,

Hoping you can help me.

Basically we order printing from a different team and they quote us a price per order. They do not (or do not wish) have a set price guide so I am trying to work out costings per sheet. Ideally would like to work out a set price for colour printing and black and white printing on either A4 or A3, so we can estimate the cost of future print quotes.

Basically I have a problem here. An order to print:

A4 (Colour)- 80 Pages
A4 (Black & White) - 720 pages
A3 (Colour) - 0 pages
A3 (Black & White) - 40 pages

The price quoted to me was £170 but how would they have come up with this amount?

I'm hoping to work out a price per sheet that would match the quoted amount, and if possible, work out a cost for each different sheet (colour, B&W, A3/A4)

Any ideas?

 

[stapel]

I have a problem here. An order to print:

A4 (Colour)- 80 Pages
A4 (Black & White) - 720 pages
A3 (Colour) - 0 pages
A3 (Black & White) - 40 pages

The price quoted to me was £170 but how would they have come up with this amount?

Without further information, there is no way to know, definitively, how this answer was derived.

Please reply with all the information provided for this homework exercise. When you reply, please include a clear listing of your thoughts and efforts so far, so the tutoring volunteers can see where you're getting stuck. Thank you!

 

[jambo2015]

Without further information, there is no way to know, definitively, how this answer was derived.

Please reply with all the information provided for this homework exercise. When you reply, please include a clear listing of your thoughts and efforts so far, so the tutoring volunteers can see where you're getting stuck. Thank you!

This is it - it's kind of a vague question. It reads:

"Jeff has been tasked to work out an idea of the cost of printing, basing his ideas from his previous order. In his previous order, Jeff ordered the following:

A4 - 800 pages (Of which 80 are colour)
A3 - 40 pages (Of which 0 are colour)

This order came to a total of £170. The printing department do not provide a set pricing list so your task is to try and work out an estimated understanding of the price per sheet, ensuring to price colour copies and A3 copies slightly higher respectively."

Some of our homework exercises put the context in a variety of settings I believe to show the relevance of what we are learning and how they may apply to real world situations.


My idea to answer this was to perhaps work out a price per sheet for each type (colour, b&w, A4, A3) and work out the total - if it's more than the actual cost, lower the prices and vise versa.

My tutor's only real remark at the end was to "see if there is any way you can work this out" which says to me there might not even be an answer!