High School

John and Alan are stranded on a remote island in the South Pacific. John is a very hard worker, putting in 16 hours a day and producing 100 fish a day. Alan, in contrast, only works 8 hours a day but produces 55 fish with that effort. Using this information, calculate Alan's labor productivity. Round to the hundredth place.

Answer :

To calculate Alan's labor productivity, we must determine the number of fish Alan catches per hour of work. Labor productivity is defined as the output produced per unit of input. In this context, the input is the number of hours worked, and the output is the number of fish produced.

Here's how you can calculate it step-by-step:

  1. Determine the Output: Alan catches 55 fish in total.

  2. Determine the Input: Alan works 8 hours a day.

  3. Calculate Labor Productivity: Labor productivity can be calculated using the formula:

    [tex]\text{Labor Productivity} = \frac{\text{Output}}{\text{Input}}[/tex]

    Substituting the given values, we get:
    [tex]\text{Labor Productivity} = \frac{55 \text{ fish}}{8 \text{ hours}}[/tex]

  4. Compute the Calculation:
    [tex]\frac{55}{8} = 6.875[/tex]

Therefore, Alan's labor productivity is 6.88 fish per hour when rounded to the hundredth place.

This calculation helps to understand how efficiently Alan can produce fish given the time he works.