17. Consider the following problems on elasticity:

a. When bottlers increased the price of canned soda from vending machines by 10%, sales dropped by 2.5%. Calculate the elasticity of demand for canned soda.

b. Refer to part (a). The total revenue received by bottlers from their sales of canned soda is equal to the price of canned soda times the number of cans sold (TR = P soda × Q soda ). In approximate percentage terms, what was the impact of the bottlers’ price change on total revenue?

c. Sal the Sail Salesman’s boss has just told him that if he fails to increase the volume of his sail sales by 8%, he’ll be fired. In order to meet his goal, Sal is considering putting his sails on sale. If the price elasticity of demand for sales is – 2.66, how much should Sal lower his price in order to meet his goal?

d. Yogi eats a sizable quantity of pizza by the slice, and generally pays $5 per slice at a vending cart outside his office. When a new vendor on the block begins offering pizza at

$3 per slice, Yogi finds that his monthly total expenditures on pizza rise. What can we say about Yogi’s elasticity of demand for pizza?