In desperate need of calc help
 

ADMIN - Feel free to move this thread if this is inappropriate. I actually remember back when OS had a "babes forum" and a "everything else" forum, both of which seem to be a thing of the past.

Anyways, I am really close to graduation but I am struggling mitally with my calc class. I was told this problem should be easily done via Microsoft excel, but I am completely lost right now.

I appreciate any and all help that you guys can provide

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Repeal Gasoline Taxes! Lower Prices!

Introduction: The Debate

Over the past few years, you have heard many public personalities including politicians
suggest that it is imperative that we repeal gasoline taxes. They say that it would give
the American people a signicant break on their fuel costs. In many parts of the country
the combined state and federal taxes on gasoline may be as high as $0.50 per gallon. The
advocates for such a move say,
\If the current average cost of a gallon of gasoline is $2.50, repealing
the gasoline taxes will save Americans 20% on their fuel costs."
Many do not want to repeal the gasoline taxes. Obvious reasons include the fact that
these tax revenues enable the government to build and maintain the infrastructure that
enables Americans to drive their cars to all the places they need/want to go. If the gasoline
taxes were repealed, American drivers would suer the consequences of roads that are more
congested and in a greater state of disrepair.
In addition to the fact that we need the tax revenue for the benet of the drivers, the
opponents of repealing the gasoline taxes argue,
\If we were to repeal gasoline taxes, Americans would
not experience a 20% savings in their fuel costs."
Can these opponents actually support such an argument. After all, is seems like simple
arithmetic. If the taxes go down by $0.50, then price of gasoline will go down by $0.50.


A Few Facts: Supply and Demand
In the United States, it has been determined that the daily demand for gasoline and the
daily supply of gasoline can each be expressed as a function of the average price of a gallon
of regular unleaded.
As for the demand, if the average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline is $2.249, the
demand for gasoline would be 205,541,000 gallons per day. If the average price was $2.999,
the daily demand would only be 143,552,000 gallons.
On the other hand, if the suppliers actually received an average amount of $1.999 per
gallon of unleaded gasoline, they would supply only 182,634,000 gallons per day. If they
receive $2.749 for each gallon of unleaded fuel, they would be willing to supply 198,100,000
gallons daily.
For our purposes, we will assume that both the daily demand and daily supply functions
are exponential.

The Purpose: Repeal Gasoline Taxes?

The purpose of this project is to determine whether or not the savings for the consumers
is worth the cost of repealing gasoline taxes. (For our purposes, we will assume that gasoline
taxes total $0.50 per gallon throughout the United States.)

The Analysis: Supply, Demand, and Equilibrium

 Free of all taxation, express the daily demand and daily supply as functions of price.
Graph these together on a graph.
 Free of all taxation, determine the equilibrium price and quantity.
 With a $0.50 per gallon tax imposed upon the producers, express the daily demand
and supply as functions of price. Graph these together on a graph.
 With a $0.50 per gallon tax imposed upon the producers, determine the equilibrium
price and quantity.
 Assuming there is currently a $0.50 per gallon tax imposed on the producers, compute
the actual savings for the consumer at the pump if the gasoline taxes are repealed. Is
this a 20% savings?
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I am starting with what I beleive is correct, the faily supply and demand. While I do have some numbers in excel, I have no clue how to go about making a formula for this. I was told in class today it was simply the supply and demand formula, but as you can see that has not helped much.

Once again thank you for any and all help!!!!!!

Re: In desperate need of calc help
 

A & B) You have two points (price & quantity) for both supply and demand, so you should be able to graph both of your supply and demand lines (connecting the dots for each line) and find the equilibirum (price and quantity) where they two lines intersect.

C & D) The demand line does not shift as only the suppliers are receiving the tax so their line should shift and you will have a new equilibrium (price and quantity) based on the intersection of your original demand line and your new supply line.

E) Should be less than .50 for the consumer as the supply line will shift, but because the demand line is not completely horizontal the full savins for the consumer will not be realized.

Hope that helps.

Re: In desperate need of calc help
 

Awesome!!!!!

Thank you a million!

I am going to try to tackle this tonight. My only question is for part A where I am still a little confused. As we were instructed to create the graph in excel I am still confused......as to what numbers I would use to plot. The scenario gives some numbers (at 2.25 it is 205,541,000 gallons per day and at 1.999 it is 182,634,000 gallons. Do I make up the rest of the numbers? OR is there where I would be able to use a formula to make it easier?

Thanks again!

Re: In desperate need of calc help
 

Not sure about graphing equations in excel..had to do it all on paper in college and though I use excel all day long, we graph points and never formula's, but if you plot two points, you can graph a line of best fit, which should work