The table below shows the earnings, in thousands of dollars, for three different commissioned employees. $2,000 + 3% on all sales 7% on all sales 5% on the first $40,000 + 8% on anything over $40,000 december 4.4 5.6 5.2 january 3.5 3.85 3.6 february 4.7 4.9 4.4 who had the largest dollar amount in sales for the month of january?
a. the salary plus commission employee.
b. the straight commission employee.
c. the graduated commission employee. d. they each had the same dollar amount in sales.

The salary plus commission employee earned $3,500 in January. Let his amount of sales for the month of January be x, then $2,000 + 3% of x = $3,500. 0.03x = $3,500 - $2,000 = $1,500 x = $1,500 / 0.03 = $50,000 The straight commission employee earned $3,850 in January. Let his amount of sales for the month of January be y, then 7% of y = $3,850. 0.07y = $3,850 y = $3,850 / 0.07 = $55,000 The graduated commission employee earned $3,600 in January. Let his amount of sales for the month of January be z, then 5% of $40,000 + 8% of z = $3,600. 0.05 x 40,000 + 0.08z = $3,600 $2,000 + 0.08z = $3,600 0.08z = $3,600 - $2,000 = $1,600 z = $1,600 / 0.08 = $20,000 Total sales for the graduated commission employee = $40,000 + $20,000 = $60,000 Therefore, the graduated commission employee had the largest dollar amount in sales of $60,000 for the month of January