15. higher order thinking the price of stock a at 9 a.m. was $12.73.
since then, the price has been increasing at the rate of $0.06 per hour.
at noon, the price of stock b was $13.48. it begins to decrease at the rate
of $0.14 per hour. if the stocks continue to increase and decrease at the
same rates, in how many hours will the prices of the stocks be the same?

Let's call f(x) = 2x - 4 and g(x) = 3⁻ˣ + 1.

First, you need to evaluate each function at the given values of x.
f(1) = 2(1) - 4 = -2
f(3.25) = 2(3.25) - 4 = 2.50
f(2.5) = 2(2.5) - 4 = 1
f(2) = 2(2) - 4 = 0

Similarly:
g(1) = 3⁻¹ + 1 = 1.33
g(3.25) = 3⁻³'²⁵ + 1 = 1.03
g(2.5) = 3⁻²'⁵ + 1 = 1.06
g(2) = 3⁻² + 1 = 1.11

Now, look for the value of x for which f(x) ≈ g(x): this happens for x = 2.5
Therefore the correct answer is c) x ≈ 2.5