Textbook Problem

Profit The net profits P (in millions of dollars) of Express Scripts from 2004 through 2013 are shown in the table.

Year		2004		2005	2006		2007		2008
Profit		300.1		388.1	468.7		620.6		779.6
Year	2009		2010			2011		2012		2013
Profit	826.5		1204.6			1275.8		1340.5		1898.2

Spreadsheet at Larson Applied Calculus.com

A model for these data is given by $P=147.8e^{0.l96t}$, where t represents the year, with t = 4 corresponding to 2004. (Source: Express Scripts Holding Co.)

(a) How well does the model fit the data?

(b) Find a linear model for the data. How well does the linear model fit the data? Which model, exponential or linear, is a better fit?

(c) Use both models to predict the net profit in 2018.