document.write( "<A HREF=/cgi-bin/jump-to-question.mpl?question=158875>Question 158875</A>: <I><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> The United States is China's largest export market.  Imports from China grew from about 82 billion dollars in 1999 to 152 billion dollars in 2003.  Let x=0 correspond to 1990, and estimate the amount of imports in 2006. </SPAN>\n" );
document.write( "</I><HR><TABLE width=100%><TR><TD><B><A HREF=http://www.algebra.com/>Algebra.Com's</A> Answer #117018 by </B><A HREF=/tutors/aboutme.mpl?userid=gonzo><B>gonzo(654)</B></A><img src=\"/images/stars/stars-11.gif\" alt=\"\" >&nbsp;<A HREF=/tutors/aboutme.mpl?userid=gonzo><IMG SRC=http://www.algebra.com/images/aboutme-small.gif BORDER=0 alt=\"About Me\" VALIGN=MIDDLE></A>&nbsp;<IMG SRC=http://www.algebra.com/images/nopicture.jpg><BR>You can <A HREF=\"/cgi-bin/embed-solution.mpl?show=1&solution=117018\">put this solution on YOUR website!</A><BR><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> 1999 = 82 billion dollars<BR>\n" );
document.write( "2003 = 152 billion dollars<BR>\n" );
document.write( "1990 = 0 billion dollars<BR>\n" );
document.write( "estimate 2006.<BR>\n" );
document.write( "if i read this problem, correctly, your sequence of imports is<BR>\n" );
document.write( "1990 = 0<BR>\n" );
document.write( "1999 = 82<BR>\n" );
document.write( "2003 = 152<BR>\n" );
document.write( "2006 = ?<BR>\n" );
document.write( "taking a linear average from 1990 to 2006, we would get an equation that states<BR>\n" );
document.write( "y = change in value of imports from 1990 to 2003 / change in number of years from 1990 to 2003.<BR>\n" );
document.write( "y would = (152-0)/(2003-1990) which would equal 11.69230769 billion dollars increase per year.<BR>\n" );
document.write( "2006 imports would equal 2003 imports plus (11.69230769 * ( 2006-2003) which would equal 152 billion plus (3*11.69 billion) which would equal 187.0769231 billion dollars.<BR>\n" );
document.write( "this is a straight line overall average from 1990 to 2006<BR>\n" );
document.write( "if you were to take the most recent trends rather than the overall average, however, you would look for history from 1999 to 2003 which would probably yield a different projection.<BR>\n" );
document.write( "working it through yields the following.<BR>\n" );
document.write( "taking a linear average from 1999 to 2006, we would get an equation that states<BR>\n" );
document.write( "y = change in value of imports from 1999 to 2003 / change in number of years from 1999 to 2003.<BR>\n" );
document.write( "y would = (152-82)/(2003-1999) which would equal 17.5 billion dollars increase per year.<BR>\n" );
document.write( "2006 imports would equal 2003 imports plus (17.5 * (2006-2003) which would equal 152 + (17.5*3) = 204.5 billion dollars a year.<BR>\n" );
document.write( "this is based on the more recent activity which showed a much higher average yearly change between 1999 and 2003 then the overall from 1990 to 2003.<BR>\n" );
document.write( "bottom line is if you did a straight line average from 1990 to 2003 you would get 187 billion in 2006 and if you did a straight line average from 1999 to 2003 you would get 204 billion in 2006.<BR>\n" );
document.write( " </SPAN>\n" );
document.write( "</TD></TR></TABLE>\n" );