The number of boxes at 3 hours from the opening can be written as:
The term 52 * 3 represents the number of boxes produced in the 3 hours, so b is the initial stock.
As the sum of the boxes produced and the initial stock is 404, b is equal to 248.
To complete the table we use the relation:
Replacing the values for x, we can find the value of y:
Answer: the initial stock is 248 boxes.