The area of the contiguous United States is approximately 3.12 million square miles. The population (based on the 2010 census) of the continental United States was approximately 307 million people,...

The area of the contiguous United States is approximately 3.12 million square miles. The population (based on the 2010 census) of the continental United States was approximately 307 million people, resulting in a density of approximately 98.4 people per square mile. Assume that the cost of shipping an item 1 mile is $0.01. For fixed costs ranging from $20 to $200 million (in increments of $20 million) plot.

(a) The optimal number of facilities to use.

(b) The optimal total cost, using the model outlined in Section 1.5.2.