Example 3
Two minor-league baseball teams built new stadiums in the same state. It has been 10 years since the stadiums opened, and team owners have tracked annual game attendance each year. Attendance at Freedom Field can be modeled by the function and attendance at American Stadium can be modeled by the function , where represents the number of years since the stadiums opened and the functions represent attendance in hundreds. Tables and graphs for both fields are shown. In which years did Freedom Field have greater attendance? In which years did American Stadium have greater attendance? If the trend continues, will attendance at American Stadium ever pass attendance at Freedom Field again?
1. Use the table and graph to determine when American Stadium had higher attendance.
2. Use the table and graph to determine when Freedom Field had higher attendance.
3. Determine the end behavior of each function.
4. Compare the rates of change for each field to decide whether attendance at American Stadium will ever pass attendance at Freedom Field again.
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