A company that manufactures bicycles estimates that the profit P (in dollars) for selling a particular model is given by the equation shown below, where x is the advertising expense (in tens of thousands of dollars).

Question

A company that manufactures bicycles estimates that the profit P (in dollars) for selling a particular model is given by the equation shown below, where x is the advertising expense (in tens of thousands of dollars).
P = –35x3 + 2500x2 – 275000,      0 ≤ x ≤ 50
Using this model, find the smaller of two advertising amounts that will yield a profit of $850,000. (Round your answer to the nearest thousands of dollars.)
$

Steve · Answer

Just solve -35x^3 + 2500x^2 - 275000 = 850000 using your favorite numeric method, or a graphing utility such as http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=-35x^3+%2B+2500x^2+-+275000+%3D+850000