Gasoline Since clean-air regulations have dictated the use of unleaded gasoline, the supply of leaded gas in New York state has diminished. The following table was given on the August 2001 New York...

Gasoline Since clean-air regulations have dictated the use of unleaded gasoline, the supply of leaded gas in New York state has diminished. The following table was given on the August 2001 New York State Math B exam, a statewide achievement test for high school students.

a) Create a linear model and predict the number of gallons that will be available in 2015. Comment.

b) The exam then asked students to estimate the year when leaded gasoline will first become unavailable, expecting them to use the model from part a to answer the question. Explain why that method is incorrect.

 c) Create a model that would be appropriate for that task, and make the estimate.

d) The “wrong” answer from the other model is fairly accurate in this case. Why?