Chapter 10, Problem 10.35E

High-low method. Wayne Mueller financial analyst at CELL Corporation, is examining the behavior of quarterly utility costs for budgeting purposes. Mueller collects the following data on machine-hours worked and utility costs for the past 8 quarters:

Quarter	Machine-Hours	Utility Costs
1	120,000	$215,000
2	75,000	150,000
3	110,000	200,000
4	150,000	270,000
5	90,000	170,000
6	140,000	250,000
7	130,000	225,000
8	100,000	195,000

1. 1. Estimate the cost function for the quarterly data using the high-low method.
2. 2. Plot and comment on the estimated cost function.
3. 3. Mueller anticipates that CELL will operate machines for 125,000 hours in quarter 9. Calculate the predicted utility costs in quarter 9 using the cost function estimated in requirement 1.