A business owner buys lunch for employees once every month. The owner has bought lunch for 18
employees for the last three months and the total costs are shown.
First month: $147.98
Second month: $152.17
Third month: $165.63
• Write an equation that can be used to estimate y, the average monthly cost, in dollars, to
buy lunch for x employees.
Use your equation to estimate the total cost of a monthly lunch for 26 employees. Show
your work or explain your response.