Chapter 1.2, Problem 45E

Spending on Corrections in the 1990s The following table shows the annual spending by all states in the United States on corrections:³³

Year t (year since 1990)	0	2	4	6	7
Spending ($ billion)	16	18	22	28	30

a. Which of the following functions best fits the given data? (Warning: None of them fits exactly, but one fits more closely than the others.) [HINT: See Example 5.]

(A) $S\left(t\right)=-0.2t^2+t+16$

(B) $S\left(t\right)=0.2t^2+t+16$

(C) $S\left(t\right)=t+16$

b. Use your answer to pan (a) to “predict” spending on corrections in 1998, assuming that the trend continued.