A chemical company produces a special industrial chemical that is a blend of three chemical ingredients. The beginning$-$year cost per pound, the ending$-$year cost per pound, and the blend proportions follow. $($Round your answers to the nearest integer.$)$

$\backslash$table$[[,$Cost per Pound $($$$),],[$Ingredient$,$Beginning,Ending,$\backslash$table$[[$Quantity $($pounds$)],[$per $100$ Pounds of Product$]]],[$A$,2\mathrm{.}50,3\mathrm{.}45,25],[$B$,8\mathrm{.}75,9\mathrm{.}90,10],[$C$,0\mathrm{.}99,0\mathrm{.}95,60]]$

$($a$)$ Compute the price relatives for the three ingredients.

$\backslash$table$[[$Item$,$Price Relative$],[$A$,],[$B$,],[$C$,]]$

$($b$)$ Compute a weighted average of the price relatives to develop a one$-$year cost index for raw materials used in the product.

$I=$

What is your interpretation of this index value?

Cost of raw materials is up $\%$ for the chemical.