STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL

THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS EXAMINATION

COUNCIL OF MALAWI

2014 EXAMINATIONS

ACCOUNTING TECHNICIAN PROGRAMME

PAPER TC 3: BUSINESS MATHEMATICS & STATISTICS

TUESDAY 27 MAY 2014 TIME ALLOWED: 3 HOURS

9.00 AM - 12.00 NOON

SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS
 1

SECTION B

1. (a) 2  x2  x  22 

= 4  4x  x 2  x 2  4x  4 , 
= 4  4x  x  x  4x  4 ,
2 2

=  8x ,

P 1  i  10000 1  0.15
n 7
(b) A = ,
1 i 1  0.15
= 31,294.35,

 
4 2x
3

 32
 2
2. (a) 6

6
 12 
i.e. 2  2
2 3x
 2   2  ,
5

 

23 x2  25  23 ,

2 3 x  2  28

Then 3x  2  8 ,

3x  8  2  6

x  2,

x 4x x 4x
(b)   5 i.e.  6   6  5 6 ,
2 3 2 3

3x  8x  30 ,

3x  8x  30

 5x  30 ,

30
So x   6 ,
5
 2

3. (a) Median: Ordering the data from lowest to highest

3 4 5 5 6 7 8 9 11 12,

Median = Average of the two middle values

6  7 13
=   6.5 ,
2 2

(b) Standard deviation

x 3  4  ....  12 70
Mean = n  10

10
 7,

 x   
2

Standard deviation,   .
n 1

 x     3  7  4  7  .....  12  7  80 ,
2 2 2 2
Now

 x   
2
80
So     2.98 ,
n 1 9

(c) Coefficient of skewness =


3 x  Median   3 7  6.5  0.503 ,
 2.981

x2
Since C x   1000  25 x  , then C x   25 
2x x
4. (a)  25  ,
10 10 5

Then C 10  25 
10
 25  2  23 ,
5

Interpretation: At a production level of 10 drill bits, a unit increase in

production will increase total production costs by approximately K23.
(OR the cost of producing the 11th drill bit is K23)
 3

(b) Let x be the amount of money she originally had.

She first spent 20% and then K5000 i.e. 0.2 x  5000 ,
Remainder is: x  0.2 x  5000  0.8x  5000 ,

 0.8 x  5000 ,
20
And spent 20% of the remainder on groceries: i.e.
100
So amount left  0.8x  5000  0.2  0.8x  5000 ,
 0.8x  5000  0.16x  1000
 0.64 x  4000 ,

After calculations, she discovers she has K20000 left.

So 0.64 x  4000  20000 ,
0.64x  20000  4000  24000
24000
Then x   37500 ,
0.64
 she originally had K37500.

 2 1  2  1
5. (a) (i) 3B  2 A = 3    2  
 3 2 1 0 
  6 3  4  2
=      ,
 9 6  2 0 
  10 5 
=   ,
 7 6 
 1  1
   2  1
(ii) CA = C   0 2    ,
 2 1 1 0 
 

 1  1
 
= 2 0 ,
 3 2 
 
(b) (i) Mutually exclusive events are events that have nothing in common
while independent events are events in which the occurrence of one
event does not affect the probability of occurrence of the other
event.
 4

(ii) (I) Let F be the event ‘a customer purchases fuel’ and C be the
event ‘a customer pay by bank card’.

Then need P(F or C) = P( F )  P(C)  P( F  C) ,

192 131 115

=   ,
500 500 500

208
=  0.416 ,
500

(II) P(a customer who has purchased books pays by cash)

189
=  0.917 ,
206

Range 15  1
6. (a) Interval width   2.8 , take 3.
No. of classes 5

No. of sick days Tally marks Frequency

1-4 |||| || 7
4-7 |||| | 6
7 - 10 ||| 3
10 - 13 |||| |||| 9
13 - 16 |||| 5

(b) Histogram:
10
Frequency

9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
1 1 4 2 7 3 10 4 13 5 16
No. of sick days

Labelled axes - M1, Scale - M1, Correct bars - A2

 5

SECTION B

7. (a) (i) (I) Population – all PAEC candidates,

(II) Sampling frame – Candidate list for each examination session,

(III) Variable measured - quality of the examinations,

(ii) The rating means/shows that the candidates are, on average, of the
opinion that the quality of PAEC exams are of good or very good
\quality i.e. slightly below excellent.

(b)

Item Food Clothing Utilities Groceries Transport Total

Expenditure K32,500 K18,200 K12,300 K7,600 K15,400 86000
% of total 38 21 14 9 18 100
Degrees 136 76 51 32 64 360

A3 (Accurate radius, labelling and sectors)

 6

(c) (i) Maximum Revenue occurs when R( x)  0 and R( x)  0 ,

i.e. 83  8x  0 ,
83
x ,
8
83
Further since R( x)  8  0 , then R is indeed a maximum at x  .
8

(ii) 
Profit, P  R  C  83x  4 x 2  21  x 3  12 x 2  48x  11 , 
= 83x  4 x 2  21  x 3  12 x 2  48x  11
= 35x  x 3  8x 2  32 ,
Maximum profit occurs when P( x)  0 and P( x)  0 ,

i.e. 35  3x 2  16 x  0 ,
3x 2  16 x  35  0
3x  5x  7  0 , M1
5
So x   (disregard since x > 0) or x  7 ,
3
Further at x  7 , P7  6  7  16  26  0 , hence maximum at
x  7 . A1

8. (a) (i) A sinking fund is any account that is set up for accumulating funds to
meet future obligations or debt while an amortisation is the retiring of a
debt in a given length of time by equal periodic payments that include
compound interest. A2

i
(ii) (I) Now PMT  PV 
1  1  i 
n

0.015
= 80000  ,
1  1  0.015
18

= 80000 0.063806 ,

= K5,104.46,
 7

(II) Total interest paid

= Amount of all payments – Initial loan

= 18  5104.46  80000 ,

= K11,880.28,

(b) (i) Sampling is the process of selecting members of a population to be

used in a study.

Importance: It enables the study of population characteristics at lower

cost than studying the whole population.

(ii) (I) Quota sampling.

A method of non-random sampling which is popular in market
research. It uses street interviewers, armed with quotas of
subjects to interview in a range of groups, to collect
information from passers-by.

Advantage: It is fast and cheap.

Disadvantage: If not properly done bias may be introduced into
the selection since much reliance is placed on the individual
interviewer.

(II) Cluster sampling.

This is a non-random method of sampling, used where no

sampling frame is in evidence. It consists of selecting
(randomly) one or more areas, within which all relevant items
or subjects are investigated.

Advantage: It is easy and inexpensive since the survey is

undertaken in concentrated areas.
Disadvantage: The cluster areas may not be properly
representative of the population.

[Candidates may also cite Judgemental sampling/Purposive sampling

etc]

9. (a) (i) (I) Since the oil is diminishing by 10%, then (100 – 10)% = 90%
remains at the end of the year.
This forms a geometric sequence with r = 0.9
 8

Hence amount that remains after n years is

a n  a0 r n ,

After 2 years, a2  100000  0.92  81,000 m litres ,

(II) After 4 years, a4  100000  0.94  65,610 m litres ,

After 7 years, a7  100000  0.9  47,829.69 m litres ,

7
(III)

(ii) Table of values:

n 0 2 4 6 8
Amount 100000 81000 65610 53144 43407

Graph:
Amount (in litres)

120000

100000

80000

60000

40000

20000

0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Number of years (n)

M1 (Labelled axes), M1 (Scale), A1 (Plotted points)

(b) (i) Let x and y be the number of Xirico and Nzeru radios assembled.
Simultaneous equations:
Total number of A valves used: 3x  2 y  130 ,
 9

Total number of B valves used: 4 x  3 y  180 ,

(ii) The set of simultaneous equations

3x  2 y  130
4 x  3 y  180

 3 2   x  130 
is equivalent to        ,
 4 3   y  180 
 3 2 1  3  2
Let A    , then A 1   ,
 4 3 3  3  2  4   4 3 

 3  2
=  
 4 3 
 x   3  2 130 
Then       ,
  
y  4 3  180 
 30 
=   ,
 20 

Hence 30 Xirico radios and 20 Nzeru radios.

END