Question

The average mileage per gallon for cars built since 1940 approximates to the following curve 0.0075*t^2-.2672*t+14.8 where t is year -1940.

Answer the following questions:

What is the expected MPG in 2025?
How about 2050?
Is this a valid function?
Is there a top end to MPG?

Answer 1

9514 1404 393

Answer:

• 46.3 in 2025
• 76.2 in 2050

Explanation:

The attached shows the predicted mileage for cars built in 2025 to be 46.3 mpg, 76.2 mpg for cars built in 2050.

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No doubt, the function is valid over the time period used to derive it. It may or may not be valid for predicting MPG beyond that period.

Virtually any function that predicts future increases without bound will turn out to be unreliable at some point. In this universe, there are always limits to growth.