The Eye Surgery Institute just purchased a new laser madicine for $500,000 to use during eye surgery. The Institute must pay the inventor $550 each time the madicine is used. If the Institute charges $2,000 for each laser surgery that must be performed in order for the Institute to make a profit?

Answer

To determine how many laser surgeries the Eye Surgery Institute must perform in order to make a profit, we will follow these steps:

### Step 1: Identify the fixed and variable costs
- The fixed cost is the cost of the laser machine, which is $500,000.
- The variable cost per surgery is the payment to the inventor, which is $550.

### Step 2: Determine the revenue per surgery
- The revenue generated from each laser surgery is $2,000.

### Step 3: Calculate the profit per surgery
- Profit per surgery can be calculated as:
\[ \text{Profit per surgery} = \text{Revenue per surgery} - \text{Cost per surgery} \]
\[ \text{Profit per surgery} = 2000 - 550 = 1450 \]

### Step 4: Calculate the number of surgeries needed to cover the fixed cost
- To find out how many surgeries are needed to cover the fixed cost, we use the formula:
\[ \text{Number of surgeries} = \frac{\text{Fixed cost}}{\text{Profit per surgery}} \]
\[ \text{Number of surgeries} = \frac{500000}{1450} \approx 344.83 \]

### Step 5: Round up to the nearest whole number
- Since the number of surgeries must be a whole number, we round up 344.83 to 345.

### Conclusion
The Eye Surgery Institute must perform **345 surgeries** in order to start making a profit.

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