Sarah is wanting to evaluate her operations efficiency by calculating the number of labor minutes per meal. Data indicate she served 7,500 meals and total hours worked 625 for the week. What were labor minutes per meal?

Sarah is wanting to evaluate her operations efficiency by calculating the number of labor minutes per meal. Data indicate she served 7,500 meals and total hours worked 625 for the week. What were labor minutes per meal?

• A. 4
• B. 5
• C. 6
• D. 7

Answer: (B)

Labor minutes per meal shows how much labor time is tied to each meal. To find it, convert all labor time to minutes and divide by the number of meals. Total hours worked: 625 hours. Convert to minutes: 625 × 60 = 37,500 minutes. Labor minutes per meal = 37,500 minutes ÷ 7,500 meals = 5 minutes per meal. So, each meal requires five minutes of labor. If you test the other values, they’d imply different total labor minutes than what was recorded (e.g., 4 minutes per meal would need 30,000 minutes of labor; 6 would need 45,000 minutes, etc.), which doesn’t match the data.

Labor minutes per meal shows how much labor time is tied to each meal. To find it, convert all labor time to minutes and divide by the number of meals.

Total hours worked: 625 hours. Convert to minutes: 625 × 60 = 37,500 minutes.

Labor minutes per meal = 37,500 minutes ÷ 7,500 meals = 5 minutes per meal.

So, each meal requires five minutes of labor. If you test the other values, they’d imply different total labor minutes than what was recorded (e.g., 4 minutes per meal would need 30,000 minutes of labor; 6 would need 45,000 minutes, etc.), which doesn’t match the data.