Guo Corporation uses the weighted-average method in its process costing system. This month, the beginning inventory in the first processing department consisted of 550 units. The costs and percentage completion of these units in beginning inventory were:

	Cost		Percent Complete
Materials costs	$	7,400	55	%
Conversion costs	$	2,200	15	%

A total of 9,800 units were started and 9,200 units were transferred to the second processing department during the month. The following costs were incurred in the first processing department during the month:

Materials costs	$238,000
Conversion costs	$376,500

The ending inventory was 80% complete with respect to materials and 70% complete with respect to conversion costs.

Note: Your answers may differ from those offered below due to rounding error. In all cases, select the answer that is the closest to the answer you computed. To reduce rounding error, carry out all computations to at least three decimal places.

The cost per equivalent unit for materials for the month in the first processing department is closest to:

a)$22.86

b)$23.52

c)$24.25

d)$24.53