Math 101 Final Project
Sharee Williams
American College of Healthcare Sciences
Math 101
Professor Lori Holdren
8/20/2023
Mathematics as Tool in Business
Mathematics is one of the most powerful tools in dealing with business. This is a useful
tool in determining the financial performance of the company. In relevance with the accounting
concepts, mathematics has been a very useful tool in developing the products as well as their
prices to help the company determine the correct pricing and the needed quantity of materials to
provide a high-quality product.
Background of the Situation
Sharee Williams loves to bake cookies and has been praised by her colleagues and friends
because of the scrumptious and delicious cookies she prepares. She was even encouraged by
them to put up a store so that more people would be able to taste her cookies. She has then
decided to accept pre-ordered cookies and then agreed that these cookies will be delivered,
Sunday of that week. She was able to receive 75 dozen orders of chocolate chip cookies Since
she was starting, she decided to offer an introductory price of $25 per dozen. She is pondering if
the pricing she made was correct. Also, she needs to determine the amount of ingredients she
needs to buy as well as the price for them.
Recipe
Her secret recipe for chocolate chip cookies which yields 1 dozen of cookies is as follows
(Zhou, 2022):
½ cup granulated sugar(100 g)
¾ cup brown sugar(165 g), packed
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter(115 g), melted
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour(155 g)
½ teaspoon baking soda
4 oz milk or semi-sweet chocolate chunks(110 g)
4 oz dark chocolate chunk(110 g)
Ratio and Proportion
A "ratio" is just a comparison between, or a relating of, two different things. Ratios are
used to create proportions by setting two ratios equal to each other and solving for some
unknown, and ratios can also be used to find per-unit rates such as how many mile a car can
drive "per liter" or how many hours the average student at a given university spends studying
"per week" (Anthony-Smith & Marecek, 2017).
Ratios are a helpful tool for comparing things to each other in mathematics and real life,
so it is important to know what they mean and how to use them. These descriptions and
examples will not only help you to understand ratios and how they function but will also make
calculating them manageable no matter what the application.
In this situation, we are to use ratio a proportion to determine the correct amount of
O
ingredients needed to be used per recipe. Using the formula, ×Q1, we will get the amount
Q0
needed for the desired output. Let,
O=original amount Q0=original yieldQ1=desired yield
Using the above formula, we can say that the correct amount of ingredients for the
100 grams
chocolate chip cookies are as follows: (For example, ×75=7500 grams )
1
Unit of Desired
Quantity measurement Yield Yield Final Quantity
granulated sugar 100 grams 1 75 7500 grams
1237
brown sugar 165 grams
1 75 5 grams
salt 5 grams 1 75 375 grams
unsalted butter, melted 115 grams 1 75 8625 grams
egg 1 pc 1 75 75 pc
vanilla extract 5 grams 1 75 375 grams
all-purpose flour 155 grams 1 75 11625 grams
baking soda 2.5 grams 1 75 187.5 grams
semi-sweet chocolate
110 grams
chunk 1 75 8250 grams
dark chocolate chunk 100 grams 1 75 7500 grams
The next thing to be done is to determine the price of the materials to be used. The final
quantity will be the guide on the amount to be used in the recipe. The following are the retail
prices of the ingredients with their corresponding sizes (Costco, 2023).
Price Size
granulated sugar 5.69 10 lb
brown sugar 4.99 7 lb
salt 2.39 48 oz
unsalted butter 13.99 4 lb
egg 9.29 5 doz
vanilla extract 11.99 16 oz
all-purpose flour 18.79 25 lb
baking soda 0.58 1 lb
semi-sweet chocolate
8.99 72 oz
chunk
dark chocolate chunk 11.79 24 oz
Now that the prices are already shown, the costs that is needed to produce the cookies
ordered can be calculated. The concept of ratio and proportion still is a very useful technique
here. We also need to convert the unit of measurements to be able to determine the correct
amount of ingredients and costs to be used to make the cookies. Use the following conversion
tools to convert some of the unit of measurements.
1 oz = 28.35 grams
1 lb = 16 oz
1 doz = 12 pieces
Quantity needed Conversion unit
granulated sugar 7500 grams to pounds
brown sugar 12375 grams to pounds
salt 375 grams to ounces
unsalted butter, melted 8625 grams to pounds
egg 75 pc to dozen
vanilla extract 375 grams to ounces
all-purpose flour 11625 grams to pounds
baking soda 187.5 grams to pounds
semi-sweet chocolate chunk 8250 grams to ounces
dark chocolate chunk 7500 grams to ounces
For granulated sugar,
1 oz 1lb
7500 grams× × =16.53 lbs .
28.35 grams 16 oz
For brown sugar,
1 oz 1 lb
12375 grams × × =27.28 lbs .
28.35 grams 16 oz
For salt,
1 oz
375 grams× =13.23 oz
28.35 grams
For unsalted butter,
1 oz 1lb
8625 grams× × =19.01 lbs .
28.35 grams 16 oz
For egg,
1 doz
75 pcs × =6.25 doz
12 pcs
For vanilla extract,
1 oz
375 grams× =13.23 oz .
28.35 grams
For all-purpose flour,
1 oz 1 lb
11625 grams × × =25.63 lbs .
28.35 grams 16 oz
For baking soda,
1 oz 1 lb
187.5 grams × × =0.44 lbs .
28.35 grams 16 oz
For semi-sweet chocolate chunk,
1 oz
8250 grams× =291.01 oz .
28.35 grams
For dark chocolate chunk,
1 oz
7500 grams× =264.55 oz .
28.35 grams
With these measurements, the total cost can be calculated as follows:
Quantity Divided by Size Multiplied by
Total Cost
Needed per packaging Price
1
granulated sugar 10 lb $ 5.69 $ 9.41
6.53
2
brown sugar 7 lb $ 4.99 $ 19.45
7.28
1
salt 48 oz $ 2.39 $ 0.66
3.23
1
unsalted butter 4 lb $ 13.99 $ 66.49
9.01
egg 5 doz $ 9.29 $ 11.61
6.25
1
vanilla extract 16 oz $ 11.99 $ 9.91
3.23
2
all-purpose flour 25 lb $ 18.79 $ 19.26
5.63
baking soda 1 lb $ 0.58 $ 0.26
0.44
semi-sweet chocolate 29
72 oz $ 8.99 $ 36.34
chunk 1.01
26
dark chocolate chunk 24 oz $ 11.79 $ 129.96
4.55
TOTAL COST $ 303.34
Aside from the cost of materials, packaging with cost of $5 per dozen is included as well.
Therefore, the total cost will be $303.34 + $5 * 75 = $678.34.
The last part is to compute for the net income. Net income, is sales minus cost of goods
sold, general expenses, taxes, and interest (Miller-Nobles, Mattison, & Matsumura, 2018). The
sales is equal to 75 dozen x $25 = $1875. The total costs incurred is $678.34. Net income must
be equal to sales less expenses or $1,875 - $678.34 = $1,196.66.
Given this scenario, Sharee would be profitable and would earn $1,196.66 in selling the
cookies.
References
Anthony-Smith, M., & Marecek, L. (2017). Prealgebra. Openstax.
Costco. (2023). Costco. Retrieved from Costco: https://www.simplegrocerydeals.com/costco-
price-list/
Miller-Nobles, T., Mattison, B., & Matsumura, E. M. (2018). Accounting: The Financial
Chapters. New Jersey: Pearson.
Sally's Baking Recipe. (2022, February 7). Sally's Baking Recipe. Retrieved from Sally's Baking
Recipe: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/red-velvet-chocolate-chip-cookies/
Zhou, A. (2022, Septem 20). Tasty. Retrieved from Tasty: https://tasty.co/recipe/the-best-chewy-
chocolate-chip-cookies
