A large pharmaceutical uses the function f(x)=1.743x-3233 to model the amount of money, in billions of dollars, it spends each year on research and development where x coresponds to the year. Use the function to predict the amount of money it will spend in 2011
To predict the amount of money the pharmaceutical company will spend in 2011, we need to substitute x = 2011 into the function f(x) = 1.743x - 3233.
f(2011) = 1.743(2011) - 3233
= 3506.833 - 3233
= 273.833
Therefore, the company is predicted to spend approximately $273.833 billion on research and development in 2011.