Question

Each serving of Gerber Mixed Cereal for Baby contains 60 calories, no vitamin C, and 11 grams of carbohydrates. Each serving of Gerber Mango Tropical Fruit Dessert contains 80 calories, 45% of the U.S. Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of vitamin C for infants, and 21 grams of carbohydrates. Each serving for Gerber Apple Banana Juice contains 60 calories, 120% of the U.S. RDA of vitamin C for infants, and 15 grams of carbohydrates.† Assume that the cereal costs 11¢ per serving, the dessert costs 50¢ per serving, and the juice costs 30¢ per serving. If you want to provide your child with at least 180 calories, at least 120% of the U.S. RDA of vitamin C, and at least 37 grams of carbohydrates, how can you do so at the least cost?

(Mixed Cereal for Baby, Mango Tropical Fruit Dessert, Apple Banana Juice) = 2,0,1) servings




?
What are your shadow costs for calories, vitamin C, and carbohydrates?

Answer 1

[AI-generated answer — Bot GPT 3.5]

To provide your child with at least 180 calories, at least 120% of the U.S. RDA of vitamin C, and at least 37 grams of carbohydrates, you can do so by serving 2 servings of Gerber Mixed Cereal for Baby, 0 servings of Gerber Mango Tropical Fruit Dessert, and 1 serving of Gerber Apple Banana Juice.

This combination provides a total of 180 calories (2 servings of cereal at 60 calories each + 1 serving of juice at 60 calories), 240% of the U.S. RDA of vitamin C (2 servings of juice at 120% each), and 41 grams of carbohydrates (2 servings of cereal at 11 grams each + 1 serving of juice at 15 grams).

The total cost for this combination would be 11¢ x 2 + 30¢ x 1 = 52¢.

Shadow costs:
- Shadow cost for calories: 52¢ / 180 calories = 0.29¢ per calorie
- Shadow cost for vitamin C: 52¢ / 240% vitamin C = 0.22¢ per % of vitamin C
- Shadow cost for carbohydrates: 52¢ / 41 grams = 1.27¢ per gram of carbohydrates