A certain company manufactures skateboards and rollerskates. It takes them 2 units of labor and 1 unit of materials to produce a skateboard, and 1 unit of labor and 2 units of materials to produce a pair of rollerskates. They have 30 units of labor and 40 units of materials each week. If the company makes a profit of $20 on each skateboard and $15 on each pair of rollerskates, what is the number of skateboards the company should produce in order to maximize profit? Round your answer to the nearest whole number.

The company should produce 7 skateboards and 16 rollerskates in order to maximize profit.

Step-by-step explanation: Let the skateboards be represented by s and the rollerskates be represented by r. The available amount of labour is 30 units, and to produce a skateboard requires 2 units of labor while to produce a rollerskate requires 1 unit. This can be expressed as follows;

2s + r = 30 (1)

Also there are 40 units of materials available, and to produce a skateboard requires 1 unit while a rollerskate requires 2 units. This too can be expressed as follows;

s + 2r = 40 (2)

With the pair of simultaneous equations we can now solve for both variables by using the substitution method as follows;

In equation (1), let r = 30 - 2s

Substitute for r into equation (2)

s + 2(30 - 2s) = 40

s + 60 - 4s = 40

Collect like terms,

s - 4s = 40 - 60

-3s = -20

Divide both sides of the equation by -3

s = 6.67

(Rounded up to the nearest whole number, s = 7)

Substitute for the value of s into equation (1)

2s + r = 30

2(7) + r = 30

14 + r = 30

Subtract 14 from both sides of the equation

r = 16

Therefore in order to maximize profit, the company should produce 7 skateboards and 16 rollerskates.