Unformatted Attachment Preview
1-4
ase studies and questions linked to
in Chapter 2 of Cases in Engi-
2nd on the student website may be
ore discussion-oriented questions.
If you have $1000 and could make
sions, how long would it take you to become a
millionaire? Explain briefly what you would do.
1-5
E
One can find books on "How I Made My Millions"
in any bookstore. In some cases the authors seem
to plan to make millions by selling that book. Do
you think this is ethical? How would you lay out the
factors to analyze this question?
1-6
E
your past academic year and deci-
nade. List a few decisions that you
s simple, intermediate, and complex.
Earn about your decision making by
roached these decisions?
Ollowing problems would be suit-
by engineering economic analysis.
they?
better to buy a hybrid car?
zautomatic machine be purchased to
ee workers now doing a task by
The owner of a small machine shop has just lost o
of his larger customers. The solution to his pro
lem, he says, is to fire three machinists to balance
his workforce with his current level of business. The
owner says it is a simple problem with a simple
solution.
(a) The three machinists disagree. Why?
(b) What are the ethical factors from the perspective
of the owner and the workers?
Designing a chair for use in a classroom seems
like a simple task. Make an argument for how
this can be considered a complex decision and
include environmental and ethical factors in your
argument.
1-11
wise to enroll for an early morning
id traveling during the morning traf-
urs and thus improve fuel efficiency?
be better off if you changed your
1-7
G
G
1-8
1-12
work more and borrow less even if it
- graduation?
orporate farm build waste mitigation
ontinue using a contracted service?
he following problems is most suitable
engineering economic analysis?
ar two favorite sandwich shops offers
loyalty card and the other does not.
uld you stop today?
has $150,000 in a bank checking
at pays no interest. She can either
mediately at a desirable interest rate
Toward the end of the twentieth century, the U.S.
government wanted to save money by closing a small
portion of its domestic military installations. While
many people agreed that saving money was a desir-
able goal, people in areas potentially affected by
a closing soon reacted negatively. Congress finally
selected a panel whose task was to develop a list of
installations to close, with the legislation specifying
that Congress could not alter the list. Since the goal
was to save money, why was this problem so hard to
solve?
(d) A recently gra
return to school in the evenings to obtain a mas-
ter's degree. He feels it should be accomplished
in a manner that will allow him the maximum
amount of time for his regular day job plus time
for recreation. In working for the degree, he
will
to fulfill his dor
student offered
Jay $300 per me
of the school yea
in the second sei
Jay estimate
if he lives in th
apartment with
the apartment re
month. Assume
Disregard the sm
disbursements or
1-20 Seven criteria are given in the chapter for judging
which is the best alternative. After reviewing the
list, devise three additional criteria that might be
used.
(a) What are the
(6) Evaluate the
(c) What do you
1-25
"1-21 Suppose you are assigned the task of determining
the route of a new highway through an older section
of town. The highway will require that many older
homes be either relocated or torn down. Two pos-
sible criteria that might be used in deciding exactly
where to locate the highway are:
(a) Ensure that there are benefits to those who gain
from the decision and that no one is harmed by
the decision.
(b) Ensure that the benefits to those who gain from
the decision are greater than the losses of those
who are harmed by the decision.
An electric moto
foreman told the
to be replaced. 1
no alternatives an
the replacement.
making taking pl
decision(s)?
1-26
Which criterion will you select to use in determining
the route of the highway? Explain.
G
A farmer must de
water, fertilizer, ar
itable and environn
(d) A recently gra
return to school in the evenings to obtain a mas-
ter's degree. He feels it should be accomplished
in a manner that will allow him the maximum
amount of time for his regular day job plus time
for recreation. In working for the degree, he
will
to fulfill his dor
student offered
Jay $300 per me
of the school yea
in the second sei
Jay estimate
if he lives in th
apartment with
the apartment re
month. Assume
Disregard the sm
disbursements or
1-20 Seven criteria are given in the chapter for judging
which is the best alternative. After reviewing the
list, devise three additional criteria that might be
used.
(a) What are the
(6) Evaluate the
(c) What do you
1-25
"1-21 Suppose you are assigned the task of determining
the route of a new highway through an older section
of town. The highway will require that many older
homes be either relocated or torn down. Two pos-
sible criteria that might be used in deciding exactly
where to locate the highway are:
(a) Ensure that there are benefits to those who gain
from the decision and that no one is harmed by
the decision.
(b) Ensure that the benefits to those who gain from
the decision are greater than the losses of those
who are harmed by the decision.
An electric moto
foreman told the
to be replaced. 1
no alternatives an
the replacement.
making taking pl
decision(s)?
1-26
Which criterion will you select to use in determining
the route of the highway? Explain.
G
A farmer must de
water, fertilizer, ar
itable and environn
1: MAKING ECONOMIC DECISIONS
year. The
farmer's
1-22 For the project in Problem 1-21, identify the major
costs and benefits. Which are market consequences,
which are extra-market consequences, and which are
intangible consequences?
Plan
Сс
А
1-23 You must fly to another city for a Friday meet-
ing. If you stay until Sunday morning your ticket
will be $250, rather than $800. Hotel costs are
$200 per night. Compare the economics with reason-
able assumptions for meal expenses. What intangible
consequences may dominate the decision?
B
Toblem 1-18, state the correct economic
for each of the following situations.
engineering student club raffled off a
ted car; tickets sold for $5 each or three
10. When the students were selling tickets,
noted that many people had trouble decid-
vhether to buy one or three tickets. This
ates the buyers' criterion was
udent organization bought a soft-drink
ine and then had to decide whether to
e 75¢, $1, or $1.25 per drink. The organi-
recognized that the number of soft drinks
vould depend on the price charged. Even-
the decision was made to charge $1. The
on was
my cities, grocery stores find that their sales
auch greater on days when they advertise
1 bargains. However, the advertised special
do not appear to increase the total physical
e of groceries sold by a store. This leads
conclude that many shoppers' criterion
C С
D
1
ently graduated engineer has decided to
to school in the evenings to obtain a mas-
egree. He feels it should be accomplished
anner that will allow him the maximum
t of time for his regular day job plus time
creation. In working for the degree, he
1-24 In the fall, Jay Thompson decided to live in a uni-
versity dormitory. He signed a dorm contract under
which he was obligated to pay the room rent for
the full college year. One clause stated that if he
moved out during the year, he could sell his dorm
contract to another student who would move into the
dormitory as his replacement. The dorm cost was
$5000 for the two semesters, which Jay had already
paid.
A month after he moved into the dorm, he
decided he would prefer to live in an apartment.
That week, after some searching for a replacement
to fulfill his dorm contract, Jay had two offers. One
student offered to move in immediately and to pa
Jay $300 per month for the eight remaining
mon
of the school year. A second student offered to move
in the second semester and pay $2500 to Jay.
Jay estimates his food cost per month is $500
if he lives in the dorm and $450 if he lives in an
apartment with three other students. His share of
the apartment rent and utilities will be $400 per
month. Assume each semester is 41/2 months long.
Disregard the small differences in the timing of the
disbursements or receipts.
(a) What are the three alternatives available to Jay?
(b) Evaluate the cost for each of the alternatives.
(c) What do you recommend that Jay do?
The last
and hence the
cultural colleg
farmer adoptc
(a) only the di
(b) both the di
1-27 Identify the alte
cess for the sele
make the best c
1-28 Describe a majo
next two years.
structure the pro
29 Apply the steps
this chapter and d
your 5-year, 10-y
1-30 One strategy for
break it into a grc
then find solution
result is the solutic
an example in whi
give another examp
eria are given in the chapter for judging
he best alternative. After reviewing the
three additional criteria that might be
work.
ou are assigned the task of determining
a new highway through an older section
he highway will require that many older
ither relocated or torn down. Two pos-
a that might be used in deciding exactly
cate the highway are:
hat there are benefits to those who gain
e decision and that no one is harmed by
Sion.
that the benefits to those who gain from
sion are greater than the losses of those
harmed by the decision.
1-25 An electric motor on a conveyor burned out. The
foreman told the plant manager that the motor had
to be replaced. The foreman said that there were
no alternatives and asked for authorization to order
the replacement. In this situation, is any decision
making taking place? If so, who is making the
decision(s)?
Ethics
1-31 When you make po
E
investments in engi
will you use?
Contributed by D. P.
1-32 What are ethics?
E
Contributed by D. P.
1-33 A student accepts a fi
E
a better job comes ber
are the ethical dimensi
Would you take the be
1-34 Suppose you are an
(E vate engineering firm
1-26 A farmer must decide what combination of seed,
water, fertilizer, and pest control will be most prof-
itable and environmentally conscious for the coming
on will you select to use in determining
The highway? Explain.
G
Problems 27
1-9
The college bookstore has put pads of engineering
computation paper on sale at half price. What is the
minimum and maximum number of pads you might
buy during the sale? Explain.
alue of money is
minimizing cost,
buy a bicycle instead, she replies, "Gee, I never
thought of that."
(C) Don needed a wrench to replace the spark plugs
in his car. He went to the local automobile sup-
ply store and bought the cheapest one they had.
It broke before he had finished replacing all the
spark plugs in his car.
1-13 Identify possible objectives for NASA. For your
favorite of these, how should alternative plans to
achieve the objective be evaluated?
she will be able to
-15% higher.
mee, damaging the
mat will pay for the
Claim for payment,
r car insurance in
1-14 Suppose you have just 2 hours to determine how
E
many students would be interested in a highway trash
pickup event. Give a step-by-step outline of how you
would proceed.
ke the right deci-
you to become a
you would do.
Iade My Millions"
the authors seem
ing that book. Do
uld you lay out the
1-15 A college student determines he will have only half
of the cost for university housing available for the
coming year. List five feasible alternatives.
op has just lost on
lution to
ch
su balance
1-16 Think about the issue of implementing renewable
E energies in the U.S. Research/find an instance where
a decision was made to implement without ade-
quately looking at other potential alternative solu-
tions.
ciness. The
len.
1-10 Consider the five situations described. Which one
situation seems most suitable for solution by eco-
nomic analysis?
(a) John has met two college students that interest
him. Beth is music major who is lots of fun
to be with. Alice is a fellow engineering student,
but she does not like to party. John wonders what
to do.
(b) You drive periodically to the post office to send
or pick up packages. The parking meters cost
$1 for 15 minutes—about the time required for
medium length lines. If parking fines cost $20,
do you put money in the meter or not?
(c) The cost of car insurance varies widely from
company to company. Should you check with
several insurance companies when your policy
comes up for renewal?
(d) There is a special local sales tax ("sin tax") on a
variety of things that the town council would like
to remove from local distribution. As a result, a
store has opened up just outside the town and
offers an abundance of these specific items at
prices about 30% less than is charged in town.
Should you shop there?
(e) One of your professors mentioned that you have
a poor attendance record in her class. You won-
der whether to drop the course now or wait to see
how you do on the first midterm exam. Unfortu-
nately, the course is required for graduation.
1-11 A car manufacturer is considering locating an assem-
G
bly plant in your region.
(a) List two simple, two intermediate, and two com-
plex problems associated with this proposal.
(b) What is NIMBY? Does this come into play for
this complex decision?
1-12 Consider the following situations. Which ones
appear to represent rational decision making?
Explain.
(a) Joe's best friend has decided to become a civil
engineer, so Joe has decided that he will also
become a civil engineer.
(b) Jill needs to get to the university from her home.
She bought a car and now drives to the univer-
sity each day. When Jim asks her why she didn't
1-17 If there are only two alternatives available and
both are unpleasant and undesirable, what should
e. Why?
rom the perspective
-?
you do?
classroom seems
argument for how
aplex decision and
cal factors in your
1-18 The three economic criteria for choosing the best
A
alternative are maximize the difference between out-
put and input, minimize input, and maximize output.
For each of the following situations, what is the
correct economic criterion?
h century, the U.S.
Ey by closing a small
installations. While
money was a desir-
entially affected by
y. Congress finally
to develop a list of
gislation specifying
list. Since the goal
problem so hard to
(a) A manufacturer can sell up to two full shifts
of production at a fixed price. As production
is increased, unit costs increase as a result of
overtime pay and so forth. The manufacturer's
criterion should be
(b) An architectural and engineering firm has been
awarded the contract to design a wharf with fixed
performance specifications for a petroleum com-
pany. The engineering firm's criterion for its
client should be
(c) An off-campus bookstore is choosing its target
used/new split for next year. Its criterion should
be
(d) At an auction of antiques, a bidder for a particu
lar norcali