Question

Monroe County is trying to determine where to place the county fire station. The locations of the county’s four major towns are as follows: (10, 20), (60, 20), (40, 30), and (80, 60) (see Figure 7.50). Town 1 averages 40 fires per year; town 2, 25 fires; town 3, 20 fires; and town 4, 30 fires. The county wants to build the fire station in a location that minimizes the average distance that a fire engine must travel to respond to a fire. Because most roads run in either an east-west or a north-south direction, the fire engine must do the same. For example, if the fire station is located at (30, 40) and a fire occurs at town 4, the fire engine has to travel |80 - 30| + |60 - 40| = 70 miles to the fire. a. Determine where the fire station should be located. Round your answers to three decimal places. X Y Location of fire station b. Use SolverTable to see how the optimal location of the fire station changes as the number of fires at town 3 changes from 5 to 40, with increments of 5. Select the correct graph.

Answer 1