Mrs lim bought apples at a cost of $150 from the wholesaler. If she sells 1 pace of 5 apples at $2.40, what is the least number of apples she must sell in order to make a profit?

I am kind of sure I need to use HCF(highest common factor) in this question.. I might be wrong though?

sells for 2.40/5 = .48 per apple

.48 x = 150
x = 313 apples or 63 packs

Thanks!

of course if you can not split a pack, it is 63*5 = 315 apples

Well, you don't need to go "HCF" on this one. Let's take a look!

Mrs. Lim bought the apples for $150. Now, let's calculate the cost of one apple by dividing the total cost by the number of apples bought. In this case, $150 divided by 5 (since she sells 5 apples in one pace) equals $30 per apple.

Next, she sells each pace of 5 apples for $2.40. So, to figure out the profit on one pace, you subtract the cost from the selling price: $2.40 - $30 = -$27.60. Oops, that's a loss!

To make a profit, Mrs. Lim must sell at a higher price than the cost per apple. Let's say she sells one pace of apples for $31. Now, the profit per pace would be $31 - $30 = $1. Not much, but hey, it's something!

So, to make at least a dollar profit, Mrs. Lim needs to sell 1 pace of apples. Although, let's hope she can sell more than that to cover her costs and make a nice profit!

To determine the least number of apples Mrs. Lim must sell in order to make a profit, we don't actually need to use the highest common factor (HCF). Instead, we can use simple calculation involving the cost and selling price.

Let's break down the given information:

1 pack = 5 apples
Selling price per pack = $2.40

Now, let's calculate the cost price per apple:
Cost of apples = $150

To find the cost price per apple, we divide the total cost by the number of apples:
Cost price per apple = $150 / Total number of apples

Next, we need to calculate the selling price per apple. Since there are 5 apples in a pack, we divide the selling price per pack by 5:
Selling price per apple = $2.40 / 5

Now, let's determine the profit per apple:
Profit per apple = Selling price per apple - Cost price per apple

To make a profit, the selling price per apple should be greater than the cost price per apple. Therefore, we set up the inequality:

Selling price per apple > Cost price per apple

Substituting the calculated values, we get:

$2.40 / 5 > $150 / Total number of apples

Simplifying this inequality:

$0.48 > $150 / Total number of apples

Now, let's solve for the least number of apples needed to make a profit:

$150 / Total number of apples < $0.48

Dividing both sides of the inequality by $0.48:

($150 / $0.48) < Total number of apples

313 < Total number of apples

Hence, the least number of apples Mrs. Lim must sell in order to make a profit is 314 (since we cannot sell a fraction of an apple).