Math Problem Statement

Economics tells us that as a company raises its prices, it will sell fewer products. As a result, we can use a quadratic model to describe a company's profits,y , as a function of the price per item,x . The table below shows a certain company's price for one of its products and the annual profit from that product.

Price of item (dollars) Profit (thousands of dollars) 10 132.0 15 169.5 20 188.0 25 187.5 30 168.0 35 129.5 40 72.0

Use the quadratic regression feature of your calculator to find the parabola of best fit for the data. Round coefficients to 3 decimal places.

Solution

The quadratic equation that best fits the data, based on the quadratic regression, is:

y=0.380x2+17.000x0.000y = -0.380x^2 + 17.000x - 0.000

where yy represents the profit (in thousands of dollars) and xx is the price of the item (in dollars).

Do you want more details or have any questions?

Here are 5 related questions to explore:

  1. How would the company's profits change if the price were increased to $45?
  2. What is the price that maximizes the company's profits based on this model?
  3. How would the company's profits change if the price were decreased to $5?
  4. Can this model predict profits for prices outside the given range? What are the risks of extrapolating?
  5. What factors, aside from price, could affect the accuracy of this quadratic model in predicting profits?

Tip: Quadratic regression is useful when there is a turning point in the data, which often models maximum or minimum values, like profit maximization in business cases.

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Math Problem Analysis

Mathematical Concepts

Quadratic Regression
Quadratic Models
Profit Maximization

Formulas

y = ax^2 + bx + c (quadratic equation)
Quadratic regression formula for fitting data

Theorems

Vertex Theorem (used to find the maximum/minimum of a quadratic function)

Suitable Grade Level

Grades 10-12