2001, Question 3 · 5 points
Car wash workers and marginal product
Use a table of workers and cars washed to find where marginal product peaks, name and define the reason it later falls, explain why a sixth worker is never hired, and find the most the firm would pay the fourth worker.
This exam had three free-response questions to answer in 50 minutes of writing time after a 10 minute planning period, with about half the time suggested for Question 1 and the rest split evenly between Questions 2 and 3. The current exam has 3 free-response questions in 60 minutes. The skills these questions practice still count.
Lessons this question draws on
1 Read the question
The question is College Board's, from the 2001 exam. It starts on page 3 of the PDF. College Board no longer posts this exam, so it opens from the copy of College Board's PDF that the Internet Archive saved on August 12, 2022.
2 Write your answer
Answer each part the way you would on the exam, in full sentences, with your work shown. Your writing saves as you type.
3 Score it
Score your answer against College Board's scoring guidelines, one point at a time. Give yourself a point only when your answer says what the guideline asks for.
Scoring guidelines (PDF, page 7) What the exam readers saw (Student Performance Q&A)
Question, scoring guidelines and Chief Reader report: College Board, from the Internet Archive. The title, summary are ours.