Final answer:
The prediction for how long a cold will last using the given temperature, number of people seen each day, and hours of sleep is approximately 8.7 days.
Step-by-step explanation:
The given equation for predicting how long a cold will last is ŵ=-1.8 + 0.09x1 + 3.2x2 – 1.9x3, where x1 is a person’s temperature on the first day, x2 is the number of people seen each day, and x3 is the amount of sleep the person gets. To use this equation with a temperature of 101.4 degrees, seeing an average of 4 people each day, and getting 6 hours of sleep, we substitute these values into the equation:
ŵ = -1.8 + (0.09 × 101.4) + (3.2 × 4) - (1.9 × 6)
ŵ = -1.8 + 9.126 + 12.8 - 11.4
ŵ = 8.726
When rounded to one decimal place, this prediction for how long the cold will last is approximately 8.7 days.