OCR MEI C2 2007 January — Question 13

Exam BoardOCR MEI
ModuleC2 (Core Mathematics 2)
Year2007
SessionJanuary
TopicExponential Equations & Modelling

13 Answer part (ii) of this question on the insert provided. The table gives a firm's monthly profits for the first few months after the start of its business, rounded to the nearest \(\pounds 100\).
Number of months after start-up \(( x )\)123456
Profit for this month \(( \pounds y )\)5008001200190030004800
The firm's profits, \(\pounds y\), for the \(x\) th month after start-up are modelled by $$y = k \times 10 ^ { a x }$$ where \(a\) and \(k\) are constants.
  1. Show that, according to this model, a graph of \(\log _ { 10 } y\) against \(x\) gives a straight line of gradient \(a\) and intercept \(\log _ { 10 } k\).
  2. On the insert, complete the table and plot \(\log _ { 10 } y\) against \(x\), drawing by eye a line of best fit.
  3. Use your graph to find an equation for \(y\) in terms of \(x\) for this model.
  4. For which month after start-up does this model predict profits of about \(\pounds 75000\) ?
  5. State one way in which this model is unrealistic.